This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1958. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property operated as a Mobil-affiliated gasoline station from the late 1950s through the mid-1980s, when the station closed and its building was demolished in 1986. A 180-gallon oil underground storage tank was removed from service during that same period, and subsequent investigation identified the neighboring former Wayne's Service Center — which operated a 6,000-gallon regular leaded-gasoline tank — as the primary source of on-site groundwater contamination. Remediation has included excavation of 0.5 to 1 cubic yard of petroleum-contaminated soil, off-site groundwater treatment via air sparging and soil vapor extraction at the neighboring property from 1990 to 1995, and groundwater monitoring conducted under a Voluntary Cleanup Program agreement through at least 2017. Cleanup work is ongoing. 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 hydrocarbon contamination affecting this property traces directly to gasoline-station operations and a leaded-fuel storage system that both predate 1986 by several decades. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the Mobil station's operators — and potentially to the neighboring Wayne's Service Center — during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation record here — UST removal, soil excavation, years of vapor extraction and air sparging, and long-term groundwater monitoring — represents expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund as cleanup continues.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.
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.
