This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1945. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This mixed-use building in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood was constructed in the 1920s to 1930s and heated by an oil-burning furnace fed by an underground storage tank estimated to have been installed around 1945 or earlier. The 300-gallon heating oil UST was found with approximately two dozen holes in its bottom and lower walls, and soil samples adjacent to the tank showed diesel-range petroleum concentrations as high as 7,500 mg/kg. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included tank removal, excavation of roughly 145 cubic yards of contaminated soil, backfilling, and asphalt capping; a restrictive covenant was recorded in 2006 to manage remaining contamination, and the site received a No Further Action determination subject to periodic five-year reviews. 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 at this property originated from an underground storage tank that was in service for decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination was not a sudden spill but the product of a slowly corroding tank leaking diesel-range hydrocarbons into surrounding soil over an extended period — precisely the kind of continuous, progressive release those pre-1986 policies were designed to cover. Documented remediation costs — UST removal, large-scale soil excavation, institutional controls, and ongoing periodic reviews — represent expenditures that historical CGL carriers on the risk during the tank's operational life may still be obligated to cover.
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.
