This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1954. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property served as a United States Postal Service General Mail Facility and Vehicle Maintenance Facility, with buildings constructed in 1954 and underground storage tanks for gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and waste oil installed beginning in 1955. Leaks from fuel tanks were identified as early as 1983, triggering cleanup activities that have spanned decades — including the removal of multiple USTs and oil-water separators between 1988 and 1994, excavation and offsite disposal of hundreds of tons of contaminated soil, and operation of free product recovery systems from 1987 to 1998 that recovered thousands of gallons of petroleum product and contaminated groundwater. A No Further Action determination issued in 1999 was rescinded in 2012 after groundwater monitoring ceased prematurely, and the site remains under active cleanup with an environmental restrictive covenant in place. 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 site originated from underground storage tanks installed in 1955 and 1962 — more than two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies began excluding pollution claims. The documented remediation costs are substantial: multi-phase tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, over a decade of free product recovery, and long-term groundwater monitoring that must now resume after the rescission of the earlier closure. Historical carriers who provided coverage during the decades these tanks were leaking may be obligated both to reimburse past cleanup expenditures and to fund the remediation work that lies ahead.
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.
