This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1920. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has been in continuous commercial use since 1920 — first as a gasoline station through 1937, then as the Twin Teepees Restaurant from 1937 through 2002. A diesel heating oil underground storage tank in the property's southeast corner was removed in July 2007, yielding approximately 5 tons of contaminated soil; an additional 982 tons of petroleum-affected soil were excavated and disposed off-site during pre-shoring and basement construction phases later that year. Dewatering sumps discharged to the sanitary sewer in late 2007, and Ecology recognized the full scope as an interim action in 2008. The site has since reached No Further Action status. 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 Twin Teepees Restaurant operated this property from 1937, and the heating oil UST — by its removal date and standard lifecycle — could not have been installed later than 1982, placing its entire operational life within the pre-1986 period. Liability policies issued to the restaurant during those decades covered occurrences on the same timeline as the tank's active use, and carriers who wrote that coverage may still be obligated to address the documented cleanup costs. More than 980 tons of contaminated soil excavated during a single construction season, together with multi-year groundwater management, represent the remediation expenditure tied directly to that pre-1986 operational window.
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.
