This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1900. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Carlton Apartments property at 615 South 7th Street in Tacoma is a four-story brick apartment building constructed around 1900, with two single-wall steel heating oil underground storage tanks — a 675-gallon and a 1,250-gallon tank — integral to the building's original heating system. A 1999 UST site assessment confirmed diesel-range total petroleum hydrocarbons in soil and groundwater samples exceeding Ecology MTCA Method A cleanup levels, with benzene and petroleum-diesel compounds also identified in groundwater. The tanks were subsequently closed and the site has received a No Further Action determination under the Standard 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 heating oil infrastructure at this property dates to the building's construction around 1900 — nearly nine decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to be the industry standard. Those decades of continuous operation placed the underground storage tanks squarely within the era when CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion and broadly covered ongoing releases from petroleum systems. The remediation costs incurred to address diesel-range petroleum and benzene contamination in soil and groundwater at this site may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in effect during those pre-1986 operational years.
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.