This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This Bothell property consists of two adjacent residential lots where leaking underground storage tanks released diesel and heavy oil range petroleum hydrocarbons into the soil and groundwater. Remediation proceeded under the Voluntary Cleanup Program through an independent cleanup effort, supported by a UST Site Assessment and Independent Cleanup Report and a series of quarterly groundwater monitoring reports spanning late 1999 through late 2000. Ecology subsequently issued a No Further Action determination, concluding that the release no longer poses a threat to human health or the environment. 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.
Underground storage tanks at residential properties of this vintage were typically installed and filled decades before the industry-wide shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies in 1986 — the same era when pollution exclusions were effectively absent from those forms. The diesel and heavy oil contamination documented here is precisely the category of slow subsurface release that pre-1986 CGL policies were designed to cover, and the multi-year assessment, cleanup, and groundwater monitoring costs incurred represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the tanks' operational years may still be obligated to recover.
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.
