This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1961. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was developed as Unocal Service Station 5062 in 1961, equipped with one 10,000-gallon and two 7,500-gallon underground gasoline storage tanks, along with waste oil and heating oil tanks and two service bays. Remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program ran from October 1988 through June 1989 and included removal of all underground storage tanks — at least one of which showed corrosion and a small hole — excavation of approximately 960 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil, soil aeration and off-site disposal, backfilling, and abandonment of groundwater monitoring wells. 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 underground storage tanks installed in 1961 and operated for nearly three decades — the entire span falling within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation costs — tank removal, excavation of nearly a thousand cubic yards of contaminated soil, off-site disposal, and well abandonment — were incurred to address releases directly tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Unocal or its predecessors during that operational window may still be obligated to cover 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.
