This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was developed as a retail gasoline station in the early 1970s on land previously used as farmland, adjacent to the former Auburn Valley 6 Drive-In. Three underground storage tanks — one 8,000-gallon and two 10,000-gallon — were installed and operated for nearly two decades before being removed in 1991. Petroleum contamination, including benzene, was identified in groundwater, prompting remediation under Washington's Voluntary Cleanup Program. A Site Characterization and Remedial Action Summary Report was completed in November 2020, and the site received a No Further Action opinion from Ecology in April 2021. 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.
Gasoline dispensing operations at this property began in the early 1970s and continued through 1991, placing the entire operational history squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. The benzene and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination found in groundwater here is directly attributable to those pre-1986 UST operations. The remediation costs required to bring this site to No Further Action status — investigation, characterization, and cleanup spanning decades — are the type of documented expenditures that historical CGL carriers may be obligated to reimburse.
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.