This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property has operated as a card-lock commercial fueling facility since 1996, with operational underground storage tanks dispensing gasoline and diesel. Two former USTs were removed from the site in 1995, and documents distinguish a historical contamination release from those tanks from a separate diesel fuel UST turbine pump leak discovered in 2007 by the prior card-lock operator, Shultz Petroleum, and subsequently repaired as a source control measure. Remediation has included free product recovery, interim remedial actions, and multi-year groundwater monitoring conducted quarterly through 2014–2015; cleanup is ongoing 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.
The site carries two documented contamination events — a historical release from former underground storage tanks removed in 1995 and a separate turbine pump leak identified in 2007 — and the historical release predates 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and lacked effective pollution exclusions in Washington. Underground storage tanks removed in 1995 were almost certainly installed and in operation long before 1986, placing the historical release squarely within the coverage period of those older policies. The documented remediation expenditures tied to that historical release — UST removals, free product recovery, interim actions, and extended groundwater monitoring — represent costs the historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.
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.
