This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1971. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as a heavy construction equipment rental, sales, and maintenance yard — operated by RSC Equipment Rental and Alpine Equipment and Rental Company — with on-site fueling provided by underground storage tanks installed at a facility built in 1971. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included two phases of UST removals in 1990 and 2012, excavation of approximately 70 cubic yards of contaminated soil in 1990 and an additional 5.77 tons of contaminated soil and piping in 2012, and off-site treatment of tank liquids and rinseate water. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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 that fueled heavy equipment fleets beginning in 1971 — fifteen years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The remediation costs documented here — two rounds of tank removals, soil excavation across multiple phases, and off-site treatment spanning more than two decades — are the type of environmental expenditures that historical CGL carriers who insured the equipment-rental operations during the pre-1986 window may be obligated to reimburse.
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.
