This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1972. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The UPS Burlington facility has operated as a warehouse with on-site fleet fueling capabilities since 1972, when a 7,500-gallon underground storage tank was installed to support private vehicle fueling. A leaking UST was identified as the source of soil and groundwater contamination, triggering a multi-decade cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program that included UST removal, three separate phases of soil excavation in 1995, 1996, and 2019 (removing 121 tons in the final phase alone), and contaminated groundwater pumping and treatment through a granular activated carbon system. Groundwater monitoring and natural attenuation continued from 1996 through at least 2020, and the site has since achieved 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 contamination here originates from a storage tank installed and in active fleet use since 1972 — more than a decade before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to reliably cover pollution liability. The remediation record is extensive: UST removal, three rounds of soil excavation spanning nearly 25 years, an active groundwater treatment system, and a sustained monitoring program. Historical CGL carriers whose policies covered UPS Burlington's fueling operations during that pre-1986 window may still bear legal obligations to fund or recover those documented cleanup costs.
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.
