This property has a documented history as a auto body / repair shop going back to 1966. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Dunkin Diesel Service has operated as a diesel truck repair shop at this Snohomish property since 1966, with contamination stemming from waste oil handling and surface spills associated with those repair operations. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program spanned 1989 to 2013, encompassing removal of a waste oil tank, excavation and disposal of contaminated soil in 1998, further soil excavations and groundwater sampling in 2013, and GPR and utility studies preceding full site restoration. The site achieved No Further Action status in 2013 and was proposed for delisting from the Hazardous Sites List in 2014. 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 waste oil contamination at this property traces directly to truck repair operations that began in 1966 — two full decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. A waste oil tank installed at or near the time the shop opened, and operations that were actively generating contaminated spills well into the 1980s, fall squarely within the coverage window those historical policies defined. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, multiple rounds of soil excavation, groundwater sampling, and long-term investigative work — represent costs that historical carriers whose policies covered the facility during that pre-1986 window may still be obligated to recover.
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.
