This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This bulk fuel plant has operated at this Olympia location since the late 1960s, when a 2,000-gallon gasoline underground storage tank was installed to serve Acme Fuel Company's delivery fleet. Additional fuel storage infrastructure followed through the 1970s — aboveground storage tanks installed in the mid-1970s and a 1,000-gallon gasoline UST installed in the early to mid-1970s and later closed in place. A cardlock fueling facility was constructed on the property in 1985. Remediation was conducted under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, and the site has 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 site — diesel-range TPH concentrations as high as 75,000 µg/L and benzene up to 1,600 µg/L in groundwater, with off-property migration into the Thurston Avenue NE right-of-way — originated from fuel storage infrastructure installed and operated from the late 1960s through the mid-1980s. Occurrence-based CGL policies in force during that window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The remediation costs incurred to achieve the site's No Further Action status — addressing releases from USTs and ASTs that predated the 1986 policy shift — may be recoverable from the historical carriers who covered the bulk plant during those decades of operation.
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.