This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1953. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Atlantic Richfield Oil Company (ARCO) acquired this Olympia property in the early 1950s and constructed the West Bay Tank Farm — a bulk petroleum distribution facility with eight above-ground storage tanks ranging in capacity from 20,000 to 156,744 gallons. ARCO operated the facility from 1953 through 1977, when the site transitioned to waste oil storage, a use that continued into the early 1990s; a gasoline spill was documented on-site in 1974. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included tank removal, excavation of over 489 tons of petroleum-impacted soil, and multi-year groundwater monitoring and sampling under a formal Agreed Order. The site has received a No Further Action designation. 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 originates from bulk fuel distribution and waste oil storage operations that ARCO began in 1953 — more than three decades before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The 1974 gasoline spill and decades of high-volume petroleum storage represent exactly the kind of slow, ongoing subsurface release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. The remediation record here — tank removals, nearly 500 tons of excavated soil, extended groundwater monitoring, and an Agreed Order formalizing cleanup obligations — reflects a cost trail that historical carriers who issued CGL coverage during the ARCO operational window may still be obligated to recover.
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.
