This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1971. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property housed an underground storage tank that stored fuel oil used to fire the boilers in the adjacent Armory building, with an estimated installation date around 1971. In October 1995, an oily substance was discovered discharging from a storm drain and traced back to the old UST, triggering containment, tank decommissioning, excavation of overburden and trenches, removal and off-site disposal of contaminated soil and water, vacuum-truck recovery of oil and water, and sealing off associated pipes. Remediation efforts and subsequent investigations continued through at least early 1997, and cleanup remains underway under the Standard 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 fuel oil release at this property originated from an underground storage tank installed approximately twenty-five years before its 1996 removal — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — tank decommissioning, soil and water removal, vacuum-truck recovery, excavation, and multi-year investigation — are the type of progressive-damage cleanup costs that pre-1986 CGL carriers may be obligated to fund. With cleanup still in progress, additional remediation costs may continue to accrue against those same historical policies.
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.
