This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1930. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as an automotive service, sales, and fueling facility since approximately 1930, with two underground storage tanks — a 500-gallon and a 2,000-gallon unit — and a pump island dispensing gasoline on-site. Cleanup activities conducted from 2007 to 2018 included removal of both tanks and excavation of approximately 433 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil, followed by post-excavation confirmation sampling to verify that cleanup levels were met. Washington Ecology subsequently issued a No Further Action determination for the site. 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.
Fueling operations at this property began around 1930 and continued across the decades when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard — long before 1986 and the broad adoption of absolute pollution exclusions. The petroleum contamination addressed through eleven years of documented remediation is directly attributable to those pre-1986 fueling operations, with UST removals and nearly 433 tons of excavated soil representing the measurable cost trail. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup expenditures.
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.
