This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1985. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline and diesel service station — known as Border Gas Bar, Can-Am Petroleum, and Point Roberts Exxon — with four underground storage tanks totaling 42,000 gallons of capacity installed in 1985. Contamination from leaking piping, dispensers, and USTs was identified in 1994, prompting cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program that included excavation and offsite disposal of 1,260 cubic yards of impacted soil, UST removal, groundwater treatment via carbon filtration, air sparging, and in-situ biological degradation, and ongoing groundwater monitoring since 1996. The site has 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.
Petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks and fuel-dispensing infrastructure installed and operated beginning in 1985 — squarely within the window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — large-scale soil excavation, tank removal and replacement, multi-method groundwater treatment, and a decade-plus groundwater monitoring program — represent cleanup costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering the station during that period may still be obligated to reimburse those 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.
