This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1972. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as Gull Station No. 1625, a gasoline service station at 1300 Columbia Center Boulevard in Richland equipped with three underground storage tanks — an 8,000-gallon premium tank, a 10,000-gallon leaded gasoline tank, and a 12,000-gallon unleaded gasoline tank — along with two dispenser islands. A fuel line leak discovered in 1989 prompted excavation and treatment of contaminated soil, followed by installation of a vapor extraction and groundwater monitoring system in 1990, upgraded to a full vapor extraction system operating from 1992 to 1995 that removed up to 14.29 pounds of hydrocarbons per day. In 1997 all three USTs were removed along with approximately 450 cubic yards of soil, which underwent onsite solid-phase treatment; subsequent groundwater monitoring confirmed contaminant levels had fallen below cleanup standards, and the site 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 underground storage tanks at this station were approximately 25 years old at their 1997 removal, placing their installation around 1972 — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The presence of a leaded gasoline tank independently confirms pre-1986 operations, since leaded fuel was phased out by that period. Nearly a decade of documented remediation costs — soil excavation, vapor extraction, groundwater monitoring, and onsite treatment of hundreds of cubic yards of contaminated material — are expenditures that historical CGL carriers covering the station during its pre-1986 operational years may still be obligated to reimburse.
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.
