This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Prior to 1991, this property consisted of two single-family residential parcels, each heated by an underground storage tank. During site preparation for the Matanza Creek Apartments, a 300-gallon heating oil UST was discovered and removed. Remediation included excavation of approximately 200 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil treated off-site via thermal desorption, containment of residual contaminated soil beneath an asphalt pavement cap, five years of annual groundwater monitoring, and a restrictive covenant as an institutional control. The site has since 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 petroleum contamination at this property originated from a residential heating oil tank that operated well before 1986 — the period in which occurrence-based liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented leakage is historical in origin, tied to decades of residential heating use on the parcels prior to apartment development. Remediation expenditures here — UST removal, soil excavation and thermal treatment, long-term groundwater monitoring, and institutional controls — represent costs associated with a pre-1986 release that historical carriers whose policies were in force during that operational window may be obligated to address.
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.
