This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1956. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Navy Brier Housing Area comprised twelve residential properties in Brier, Snohomish County, each equipped with a 275-gallon underground heating oil tank installed in 1956. Diesel heating oil releases from these tanks led to the excavation and removal of all twelve USTs in August 1992, though initial contaminated soil was backfilled at the time due to funding constraints. Investigations and monitoring continued from 1993 through 1995, and a major remedial action in 2015 excavated approximately 490 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil for off-site thermal treatment, alongside decommissioning of monitoring wells, disposal of asbestos and lead-containing materials, and closure of septic tanks. The site has since received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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 underground heating oil tanks at this housing area were installed in 1956 and operated through 1992 — more than three decades of pre-1986 operations during which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum contamination documented here is the direct product of those pre-1986 tank releases, and the remediation record spans more than two decades: UST removals in 1992, multi-year monitoring through the mid-1990s, and a substantial soil excavation and thermal treatment campaign in 2015. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the owners or operators of these twelve properties during that operational window may remain obligated to contribute to those documented 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.
