This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1920. 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 gasoline service station since the 1920s, with several station configurations over the decades and underground storage tanks storing diesel and unleaded gasoline for retail sale. Cleanup activities included the removal of six USTs in 1998 — along with excavation of contaminated soil — and two additional USTs in 2005, with all tanks inerted prior to removal and associated soil and decontamination water properly disposed of. The site received a No Further Action determination and currently operates as a Texaco service station and convenience store with four dispenser islands. 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 site originated from underground storage tanks installed in 1972 and 1975, with aged releases and overfill events tied to operations that began decades before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the station's operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation costs — multiple rounds of UST removal, soil excavation, assessment, and proper disposal — were incurred to address releases directly attributable to those historical operations, and the carriers who wrote CGL coverage during that period may still be obligated to recover those expenditures.
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.
