This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1961. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Mobil Oil Co. retail gasoline station from approximately 1961 until the late 1960s, with three underground storage tanks — two 4,000-gallon and one 6,000-gallon — buried on site without leak detection or corrosion protection systems. The USTs remained undiscovered beneath the property for decades after the station closed and were removed in 2013, at which point petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH-G) and BTEX compounds including benzene were confirmed in groundwater. The site achieved No Further Action status under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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 gasoline contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated beginning in 1961, more than two decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. The tanks sat in the ground for over forty years without leak detection, and the petroleum release into groundwater — confirmed at perched water zones 12 to 17 feet below ground surface — is directly traceable to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the station operator during the early 1960s may still be obligated to cover the investigation, tank removal, and cleanup costs incurred to achieve the site's No Further Action determination.
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.