This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has been in industrial use since the 1950s, encompassing commercial warehousing with truck maintenance and refueling facilities on the Norfolk Street parcel, and automobile wrecking and parts salvaging on the East Marginal Way parcel dating to 1958. Underground storage tanks were installed as early as 1979 to support refueling operations, and a Humble Oil service station operated on the property from 1969. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included extensive soil excavation removing thousands of tons of contaminated material, tank removals, and recovery and treatment of thousands of gallons of contaminated groundwater through natural attenuation and chemical oxidation. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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.
Contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks and refueling infrastructure that served industrial operations running continuously since the 1950s — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The scale of documented remediation — large-scale soil excavation, tank removals, groundwater recovery and treatment, and ongoing monitoring — represents substantial cleanup expenditures tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that window may still be obligated to cover those 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.