This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a small grocery store with two gasoline pumps, dispensing leaded gasoline and kerosene for retail sale from four underground storage tanks until 1994. A Voluntary Cleanup Program project running from 2000 to 2012 addressed contamination from a leaking underground gasoline storage tank: all four USTs were removed, approximately 90 cubic yards (135 tons) of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated and transported off-site to the City of Port Angeles Landfill, a passive vent pipe was installed, and excavations were backfilled with clean material. The site has since received a No Further Action determination. 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 use of leaded gasoline at this site is a definitive indicator that fuel dispensing operations predated 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the standard form and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination traced to a leaking underground gasoline storage tank during that pre-1986 window is precisely the kind of slow, ongoing release those policies were written to cover. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removals, excavation of 135 tons of impacted soil, off-site disposal — represent costs that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the property's fuel-dispensing years may still be obligated to recover.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
