This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Gibson property on Lummi Island sustained a heating oil release from a residential underground storage tank containing approximately 250 gallons of home heating fuel, operated by previous property owners and removed on March 28, 2002. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included phased excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 559 tons of contaminated soil from 2003 through 2011, dewatering and disposal of nearly 34,785 gallons of contaminated groundwater, and four quarters of groundwater monitoring in 2011–2012. The site 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 heating oil release here originated from a residential underground storage tank installed and operated by prior owners well before 1986 — the period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removal, multi-phase soil excavation totaling over 559 tons, recovery of nearly 35,000 gallons of contaminated groundwater, and long-term monitoring — trace directly to that pre-1986 operational window. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to those prior owners may remain obligated to recover those cleanup costs.
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.
