This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Kent Elementary School operated with a 3,000-gallon heating oil underground storage tank assumed to have been installed in the 1940s, which developed corrosion and holes over decades of service and released petroleum hydrocarbons into the surrounding soil. Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, the tank was removed in August 1998; approximately 45 cubic yards (57.68 tons) of petroleum-impacted soil were excavated and disposed of off-site; and four groundwater monitoring wells were installed, with quarterly monitoring reports submitted through 1999. Ecology subsequently confirmed that no heating oil hydrocarbons remained above MTCA Method A cleanup levels, 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 heating oil tank at this property was installed in the 1940s — more than four decades before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions in Washington. The contamination here was a slow, corrosion-driven release from a tank that was actively supplying the school throughout that entire pre-1986 period, precisely the category of ongoing release those policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued CGL coverage during that operational window may remain obligated to contribute to the documented remediation costs — tank removal, soil excavation, and multi-year groundwater monitoring — incurred to address the release.
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.
