This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has served as Puget Sound Energy's Skagit Service Center, functioning as a maintenance and equipment storage facility for the regional electric and gas utility. Operations have included service truck maintenance, transformer processing, and treated-wood pole storage. Cleanup activities addressed hydraulic fluid leaks through multiple soil excavations — approximately 50 cubic yards of contaminated soil was removed and incinerated — along with the removal of a 300-gallon waste oil tank in 1990 and a 10,000-gallon gasoline tank and 5,000-gallon diesel tank in 1993. Contaminated groundwater encountered during excavation was pumped to a treatment facility, and 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.
The underground storage tanks removed from this property were installed well before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Petroleum contamination from leaking gasoline and diesel tanks — with lead testing confirming leaded gasoline storage — along with hydraulic fluid releases and waste oil contamination, generated decades of remediation expenditures: soil excavation and incineration, tank removals, groundwater treatment, and ongoing separator maintenance. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering this facility during its pre-1986 operational window may still be obligated to recover those documented cleanup 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.
