This property has a documented history as a auto body / repair shop predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Parsons Diesel operated as a diesel vehicle and equipment repair facility in Snohomish, Washington, with petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, and volatile organic compounds released into site soils through routine shop activities — fuel and oil handling, metalwork, and solvent degreasing. A Site Hazard Assessment prepared by the Snohomish Health District in August 1993 documented the soil contamination; no groundwater impact was identified or treated. Voluntary cleanup work under the Voluntary Cleanup Program fully addressed the soil impacts, and Washington State Ecology issued a No Further Action determination confirming no further remedial action is necessary. 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 contamination signature at Parsons Diesel — diesel fuel hydrocarbons, metal residues, and shop solvents all co-present in soil — is the product of incremental, years-long release from routine repair operations, not a discrete spill event. That pattern of gradual accumulation is characteristic of a facility that was actively operating well before 1986, and it is precisely the release type that occurrence-based CGL policies were structured to cover. Carriers who wrote those policies for Parsons Diesel's operators during that pre-1986 window may be obligated to recover the documented soil investigation and remediation costs incurred to reach the No Further Action determination.
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.
