This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a retail fuel facility and automobile service station with roots dating to 1940, serving at various times as a service station and distribution plant for Union Oil Products and later as the Darrington Exxon gas station. The site housed ten underground storage tanks, two fuel dispensers, a hydraulic hoist, and three drywells. Cleanup under the Standard Cleanup program ran from July 2006 through a No Further Action determination in February 2010, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Remediation included removal of all ten USTs and associated piping, excavation of approximately 76.85 tons of contaminated soil, vacuum-truck recovery of roughly 6,100 gallons of petroleum product/water/sludge from tanks and vaults, and removal of 50 gallons of PCB-impacted material. 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 and PCB contamination at this site traces to underground storage tanks and infrastructure installed and operated decades before 1986 — the facility's development began in 1940 and continued through at least the early 1980s. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the operators during that long pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation expenditures — tank and piping removal, soil excavation, petroleum and PCB recovery — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers who covered the property during its active fueling operations 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.
