This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1974. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property housed three underground storage tanks containing gasoline and diesel, associated with historical glass, auto body, and timber sales operations dating to at least the mid-1970s. Gasoline, benzene, xylenes, and diesel have been detected in soil at concentrations exceeding MTCA Method A cleanup levels. Initial response activities included pumping petroleum product from the USTs in 1997 and backfilling an excavation in 1998, with investigation-derived soil cuttings disposed in 2024. The site is currently awaiting further cleanup action. 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 petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented releases of gasoline, benzene, xylenes, and diesel from these abandoned USTs represent exactly the kind of long-duration, gradual contamination that pre-1986 CGL policies were designed to cover. The cleanup costs the property owner now faces — site investigation, remedial design, and full-scale remediation — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades these tanks were in operation.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.
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.
