This property has a documented history as a auto body / repair shop predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property formerly housed an automotive repair facility and is now a vacant, gravel-covered lot. Cleanup activities included the excavation and removal of a 1,750-gallon single-wall steel waste oil underground storage tank, the pumping of approximately 2,000 gallons of contaminated groundwater and residual product from the excavation, and the offsite disposal of 99.37 tons of contaminated soil. Prior to removal, the tank's 400 gallons of contents were evacuated, the vessel was triple-rinsed generating 1,200 gallons of rinsewater, and the tank was inerted with CO2 gas. Cleanup work is ongoing under the Standard 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 waste oil tank recovered from this property contained a small amount of lead — a marker of auto repair operations conducted before the mid-1980s phase-out of leaded gasoline — and the tank itself was unregistered, single-wall steel construction with a hole, all consistent with a pre-1986 installation. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the automotive repair operator during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs at this site — tank decommissioning, soil excavation, and groundwater recovery — represent expenditures that historical carriers 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.
