This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1974. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property operated as Priceless Gas, a retail gasoline station at 1108 Morgan St in Davenport, with four underground storage tanks holding unleaded gasoline, premium gasoline, and diesel fuel — totaling 28,000 gallons of capacity. The station operated until June 1998, when the USTs were temporarily closed; they were decommissioned and removed later that year. Cleanup under Ecology's Standard Cleanup program included excavation of over 700 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil, removal of contaminated product and groundwater, and a multi-year Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study completed in 2001. A Cleanup Action Plan was implemented with ongoing monitoring and a Restrictive Covenant to manage residual contamination. 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 underground storage tanks at this site were installed well before 1986, and the contamination — confirmed as releases from the UST system, including numerous holes in at least one tank — is the type of gradual, operational-period leak that occurrence-based CGL policies were written to cover. Policies issued to the station's operators during the pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation, groundwater recovery, a multi-year investigation, and long-term monitoring — represent costs that historical carriers who covered those operations may still be obligated to fund.
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.
