This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as the administrative office and vehicle maintenance facility for Kitsap County Sewer District #5, with four underground storage tanks — two for heating oil, one for diesel, and one for gasoline — supporting municipal operations from at least the mid-1960s. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program spanned from 1997 to 2006 and included multiple phases of UST removal and soil excavation, with contaminated soil disposed offsite, backfilling with control density fill, and in-situ bioremediation of residual contamination. An environmental covenant was recorded in 2008 requiring an asphaltic concrete cover over residual contamination and periodic reviews. The site has 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.
Petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed as early as the mid-1960s — more than two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. Nearly a decade of documented remediation expenditures — tank removals, multi-phase soil excavation, bioremediation, engineered cover installation, and ongoing institutional controls — were incurred to address releases directly tied to those pre-1986 municipal operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the sewer district during that operational window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup 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.
