This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1983. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was developed in 1983 with a 7,100-gallon diesel underground storage tank supplying a freezer sub-floor heating system. A diesel spill was recorded at the site in 1985, and the heating system was converted from diesel to glycol in the 1990s, after which the UST was no longer used. Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, the unregistered tank was removed in October 2015; no field indications of impact were observed on the surrounding soil or accessible piping structures at the time of removal. A multi-year groundwater monitoring program — six wells and six quarterly sampling events beginning in October 2016 — assessed natural attenuation, and the site has since received a No Further Action designation. 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 1985 diesel spill and the 1983 UST installation both predate 1986, placing this contamination event within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies in Washington carried no effective pollution exclusion. Investigation costs, the 2015 tank removal, remedial planning, a Terrestrial Ecological Evaluation, and nearly two years of quarterly groundwater monitoring were all incurred to address a release tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL coverage during the facility's early operational years may retain obligations for the costs already documented in this regulatory closure record.
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.
