This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1946. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as the Loomis Chevron Service Station from at least 1946, dispensing gasoline and diesel from three underground storage tanks totaling 7,750 gallons — including a 6,000-gallon unleaded gasoline tank, a 1,000-gallon leaded gasoline tank, and a 750-gallon diesel tank. In 1993, all three USTs were removed along with petroleum-contaminated soils excavated to depths of 14–16 feet, with the impacted soil treated off-site via rotovating. A concrete cap was installed that same year and remains in place, and an environmental restrictive covenant recorded in 2009 requires ongoing maintenance of the cap and future monitoring. 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 site originated from underground storage tanks installed as early as 1946 and operated continuously through at least the mid-1980s — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, deep soil excavation, off-site treatment, cap installation, and a perpetual maintenance covenant — represent costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the station's operators during that four-decade 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.
