This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a petroleum bulk fuel distribution terminal from at least the 1940s, housing aboveground storage tanks for leaded gasoline, unleaded gasoline, diesel #1, and diesel #2, along with a truck loading rack and underground product lines connecting to a drum-filling station. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program began in 1989 with removal of a heating oil UST and 90 cubic yards of contaminated soil, followed by over two decades of light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) recovery from groundwater. A major excavation in 2018 removed 901 tons of contaminated soil and 8,138 gallons of dewatered groundwater, with Oxygen Release Compound applied and PetroFix™ bioremediation solution injected in 2020. Groundwater monitoring concluded in May 2021, and the site has received a No Further Action determination. 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.
Petroleum contamination at this property originated from bulk fuel operations — including the storage and distribution of leaded gasoline — that were underway decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies had no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation record spans more than thirty years: a 1989 UST removal, sustained LNAPL groundwater recovery from 1990 through 2011, a major 2018 soil excavation, and injected bioremediation followed by multi-year monitoring. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during those pre-1986 operational years may still be obligated to recover the cleanup expenditures tied to contamination that originated under their coverage.
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.
