This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Simmons Garage Bulk property operated as a fueling and petroleum storage facility with underground storage tanks that stored leaded gasoline — a product phased out of the U.S. market by the mid-1980s. A release of petroleum hydrocarbons was reported in March 1993, and subsequent investigation confirmed contamination by TPH-D, TPH-G (leaded), and waste oil in both soil and groundwater. Ecology issued a No Further Action determination for the site in November 2011. 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 leaded gasoline contamination at this site is direct evidence that the underground storage tanks were in service before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The remediation expenditures required to move this property from a 1993 release notification through nearly two decades of regulatory oversight to a No Further Action determination represent costs that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during those pre-1986 fueling operations may be obligated to cover.
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.