This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1955. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Geiger Field Housing Area was developed in the 1950s to provide residential housing for Air Force personnel, with each duplex and single-family unit heated by a dedicated 500-gallon underground diesel oil storage tank; most of the 43 USTs on site were installed in 1955. Petroleum releases from these tanks were identified as early as 1989, and remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of all 43 tanks in 1992 and 1999 and excavation of 3,115 tons of petroleum-impacted soil. Groundwater monitoring wells were installed over several years, no active groundwater treatment was required, and the site has reached No Further Action status. 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 diesel heating oil contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed in 1955 and operated for decades before the 1986 threshold after which occurrence-based CGL policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions. The documented remediation scope — removal of 43 individual residential USTs and excavation of more than 3,100 tons of impacted soil — reflects cleanup costs tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators of this housing area during that window may still be obligated to recover those expenditures.
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.
