This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Port of Seattle Canal Waterway Maintenance Shop operated a fuel UST system — a 6,000-gallon gasoline tank, a 1,500-gallon diesel tank, and a 500-gallon used oil tank — for internal fleet and maintenance operations. A release was reported in 1990, triggering cleanup under the Standard Cleanup program: all three USTs were removed in 1993, 200 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted soil were overexcavated and disposed off-site, four monitoring wells were installed, and semiannual groundwater monitoring with on-site purge-water treatment ran from 1993 through 1995. Site restoration included backfilling, asphalt paving, and new UST installation; monitoring wells were abandoned in 1996, and Ecology issued a No Further Action determination in 2012. 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.
Contamination documents attribute the release at this site directly to the historical operation of the underground storage tanks, which — based on their removal date of 1993 — were installed and in service well before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the Port of Seattle during that pre-1986 window had no effective pollution exclusion and remain a viable recovery avenue. The documented remediation costs here — UST removal, significant soil excavation, two-plus years of groundwater monitoring, and on-site water treatment — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the tanks' operational life may still be obligated to fund.
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.
