This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as the Avis Rent-a-Car Service Center and Quick Turn-Around facility, fueling and maintaining a vehicle fleet through underground storage tanks totaling over 25,000 gallons in capacity — including a 12,000-gallon unleaded gasoline UST, a 10,000-gallon gasoline UST, and two 550-gallon oil USTs. Cleanup activities under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and removal of the USTs, an oil/water separator, an above-ground storage tank, and contaminated soil, followed by biofiltration groundwater treatment and multi-year monitoring from 1998 through 2011. Groundwater monitoring continued until gasoline-range hydrocarbon and benzene levels met cleanup standards for four consecutive quarters, at which point the site received a No Further Action determination. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
The gasoline and oil contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks that were in service well before 1986 — tanks removed in 1998 and 2008 reflect operational histories extending back decades into the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The remediation trail documented here — UST removals, soil excavation, biofiltration treatment, and more than a decade of groundwater monitoring — represents substantial cleanup expenditures tied directly to those historical fueling and vehicle-servicing operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that pre-1986 window may still be obligated to recover those costs.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
