This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Shore Drive Property, a vacant lot in Silverdale, was the source of a heating oil release that contaminated underlying soil and groundwater. Remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program began by at least 2003, involving remedial soil excavation and multi-year groundwater monitoring. Although a 2006 assessment determined that further action was still required for groundwater contamination, subsequent remedial work resolved those conditions, and the site received a No Further Action determination in 2007 with monitoring wells decommissioned at closure. 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.
Heating oil tanks of the type responsible for this contamination were characteristically installed and in operation well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and contained no effective pollution exclusion. The release documented here — petroleum contamination reaching both soil and groundwater and requiring a formal, multi-year remediation program to resolve — is precisely the category of slow, ongoing discharge those historical policies were written to address. Carriers who issued CGL policies during the operational period of the heating oil system may still bear an obligation to recover the remediation expenditures incurred between 2003 and 2007.
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.
