This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This Mercer Island property operated as Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Service Station 3659, dispensing unleaded, regular, and supreme gasoline from multiple underground storage tanks and pump islands. In March 1989, all five USTs were removed along with the service station infrastructure, and approximately 3,000 cubic yards of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil was excavated and transported to an off-site land-treatment facility. The site completed cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program and 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.
The underground storage tanks at this service station were installed decades before their 1989 removal — the presence of a dedicated regular-gasoline tank alongside unleaded and supreme grades is itself evidence of operations dating to the era of leaded fuel, well before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the operator during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — removal of five USTs, excavation of 3,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, and off-site treatment — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers who covered those earlier years of operation may still be obligated to reimburse.
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.
