This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1948. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Fuel storage operations at this Hoquiam property date to at least 1948, when Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps documented underground storage tanks for oil and gasoline at the location. The site has operated as a fueling station since 1971, with petroleum contamination — including benzene and gasoline-range hydrocarbons — confirmed in both groundwater and air. Remedial work included contaminated soil excavation and the discovery and removal of two orphan underground storage tanks beneath the Simpson Avenue sidewalk, remnants of the property's mid-century fuel operations. The site has received a No Further Action determination under Washington's 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.
Fuel storage and dispensing at this location extend back to at least 1948 — nearly four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The station's continuous operation through the pre-1986 era means CGL policies issued to its operators during that window may respond to the benzene and petroleum contamination documented in groundwater and air at the site. With cleanup complete and costs incurred for soil excavation, orphan UST removal, and site assessment, historical carriers who covered this property during its decades of pre-1986 fuel operations may be obligated to reimburse those remediation 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.