This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1930. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
A Shell Oil gasoline service station operated at this Tacoma property from 1930 until the 1950s, when the underground storage tanks were decommissioned and removed. Subsequent investigation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program confirmed gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons in soil from former UST operations, and cleanup consisted of excavating and disposing of one ton of petroleum-impacted soil and 220 gallons of drilling mud and water off-site. The property has since been converted to a neighborhood park and has received No Further Action status. 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 here originated from gasoline service station operations that began in 1930 — more than five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Shell Oil's historical CGL carriers from that decades-long operational window may bear liability for the investigation and remediation costs incurred to reach this site's No Further Action determination. The release has been explicitly documented as predating 1950, placing it firmly within the coverage period of pre-1986 occurrence-based policies.
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.
