This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1957. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property operated as a Shell-branded gasoline service station from its construction in 1957, with five underground storage tanks ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 gallons dedicated to gasoline storage alone. All USTs were removed in 1987–1988, accompanied by soil excavation and soil venting. Cleanup has continued for decades since: groundwater pumping recovered 965 gallons of free-phase petroleum product in 1987, with an additional 34.5 gallons of LNAPL recovered between 2012 and 2016. Quarterly groundwater monitoring has been ongoing since at least 1989, and delineation investigations were conducted as recently as 2021–2022 under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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 the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970 — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Nearly four decades of documented remediation expenditures, from tank removal and soil excavation through long-term LNAPL recovery and groundwater monitoring still underway today, trace directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the station's operators during that window may be obligated both to reimburse past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains 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.