This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was the site of a gasoline fueling operation with at least one underground storage tank that released gasoline into the soil and groundwater. An independent remedial action under the Voluntary Cleanup Program ran from 1991 through 2000, encompassing UST decommissioning and removal, soil excavation, and groundwater monitoring. Ecology closed the case with a No Further Action determination, updating its Leaking Underground Storage Tank database (LUST #2218) to reflect that the release no longer poses a threat. 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 underground storage tank at this site was decommissioned in 1991, placing its installation and active use squarely in the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Nine years of documented remediation — tank removal, contaminated soil excavation, and groundwater monitoring through 2000 — generated cleanup expenditures tied directly to a gasoline release from those earlier operations. Historical carriers who provided CGL coverage during the tank's operational life may still be obligated to reimburse those 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.