This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1955. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Shell gasoline station beginning in the mid-1950s, with seven underground storage tanks — including tanks for leaded gasoline, unleaded gasoline, and diesel — serving the site until the tanks were taken out of service in 1989 or 1990. The USTs were removed in July 1992, and subsequent investigation confirmed petroleum hydrocarbons and related constituents in both soil and groundwater, with groundwater encountered at just six to eight feet below ground surface. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and 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 and operated from the mid-1950s — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation costs — UST removal, site investigation, and the cleanup work required to reach No Further Action status — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 Shell station operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies 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.