This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as Unocal Bulk Plant No. 0729 in Cle Elum, a petroleum bulk storage and distribution terminal that included five aboveground fuel storage tanks, a 280-gallon underground heating oil tank, a truck loading rack, and associated warehouse, office, and garage structures. A subsurface contamination study conducted in August 1988 identified diesel-range petroleum hydrocarbons at the site; cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of the underground storage tank and associated product lines, excavation of approximately ten cubic yards of impacted soil, and full demolition of the bulk plant facility. Annual groundwater monitoring ran from 1988 through 2003, with purged water stored for disposal characterization, and 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 petroleum contamination documented here originated from bulk storage and distribution infrastructure — underground and aboveground tanks and a truck loading rack — that was in place and operating before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The Voluntary Cleanup Program effort at this terminal generated documented remediation costs spanning fifteen years: UST removal, product-line removal, soil excavation, facility demolition, and long-term groundwater monitoring. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Unocal or its predecessors during that pre-1986 operational window may still be obligated to recover those 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.
