This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1928. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Mobil gas station and auto repair shop — also known as Al Evans Mobil — from 1928 until approximately 1966, with ownership traced to General Petroleum Corporation of California (a predecessor to Exxon) prior to 1954. The station maintained two 550-gallon underground storage tanks and one 280-gallon tank; a 1,000-gallon single-walled steel UST was discovered and removed during site redevelopment in 2014. Petroleum-gasoline compounds and lead have been detected in groundwater at the property. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and 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.
Gasoline storage and dispensing operations at this property began in 1928 — nearly six decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum and lead contamination found in groundwater here traces to underground storage tanks that served those pre-1986 operations, including a single-walled steel UST that remained buried until 2014. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the station's operators — including General Petroleum Corporation and its successors — during that 38-year operational window may still be obligated to recover the remediation costs incurred to address these releases.
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.