This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1919. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property operated as a gasoline service station from at least 1919 through 2016 — nearly a century of fuel dispensing — with the current station building constructed in 1969 and three underground storage tanks (two 12,000-gallon gasoline USTs and one 12,000-gallon diesel UST) plus four dispenser islands ultimately removed. Cleanup has included excavation of over 8,000 tons and 900 cubic yards of contaminated soil, operation of a vapor extraction system that recovered more than 20,000 pounds of volatile organics, and groundwater treatment through air sparging and separate-phase hydrocarbon removal. Remedial investigations, feasibility studies, long-term groundwater monitoring, and planned well abandonment and soil vapor probe installations remain ongoing. 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.
Contamination at this site is directly tied to UST operations that ran for decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion — contamination was first documented in December 1989 during tank removal, confirming the release originated from those pre-1986 operations. Three large-capacity tanks, thousands of tons of excavated soil, a multi-year vapor extraction campaign, and continuing groundwater treatment represent a substantial remediation cost trail. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's long pre-1986 operational window may be obligated both to recover those expenditures and to fund the cleanup work that remains.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.
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.
