This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Liberty Exxon gasoline service station with underground storage tanks used for retail fuel sales. Following UST removal in 2002, an independent remedial action was conducted under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, including development of a remediation plan, installation of groundwater monitoring wells, and multi-year groundwater monitoring completed between November 2002 and May 2004. Ecology issued a No Further Action determination and updated its Leaking Underground Storage Tank database to reflect closure of the site. 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 originated from underground storage tanks that were in service well before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, remediation planning, monitoring-well installation, and two years of groundwater sampling — were all incurred to address releases tied to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies while the tanks were in active use 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.
