This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a car and truck dealership since the 1950s, with buildings constructed across the 1950s and 1960s housing a showroom, mechanical service department, parts department, and sales lot. Six underground storage tanks — holding gasoline, waste oil, motor oil, and fuel oil, including a 1,000-gallon leaded gasoline tank — were removed in 1988, followed by excavation and disposal of 90 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil and asphalt capping. In 2001, six below-grade hydraulic lifts were removed along with 155 tons of impacted soil, 6,240 pounds of scrap metal, and residual hydraulic oil, with excavations backfilled and concreted. Groundwater monitoring wells installed in 1994 supported a multi-year monitoring effort under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, and the site has 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.
Petroleum contamination at this dealership originated from underground storage tanks and hydraulic lifts that were installed and operated decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — two rounds of tank and lift removals, excavation and disposal of over 245 tons of contaminated soil, groundwater monitoring spanning years — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the dealership's operators during that window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup 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.
