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 at 13055 Lake City Way in Seattle operated as the B & P Auto Sales facility, with underground storage tanks and service operations that produced tetrachloroethylene (TCE) contamination in groundwater — consistent with degreasing or parts-cleaning work in the dealership's service department. Cleanup activities under the Standard Cleanup program included a UST removal action and an Independent Remedial Action conducted between 1994 and 1996, which successfully addressed the TCE groundwater contamination and resulted in 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 underground storage tanks removed from this property in 1994 were installed well before 1986, placing the dealership's operations squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The TCE contamination in groundwater originated from those pre-1986 service operations, and the remediation costs incurred — tank removal, site characterization, and remedial action — are the type of documented cleanup expenditures that historical CGL carriers may still be obligated to cover.
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.