This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property housed a Sears, Roebuck & Company store and tire shop, with four underground storage tanks — three 500-gallon and one 2,000-gallon — containing heating oil and motor oil as part of the building's original design. The tanks were never registered with Ecology, strongly indicating installation predating mid-1980s federal and state registration requirements. The building later served Washington State's Departments of Personnel and Enterprise Services before being sold in 2013; the USTs were removed in May 2014, and the site received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program in October 2015. 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 underground storage tanks at this property were integral to its original Sears retail and tire-service operations, installed well before 1986 when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard. Petroleum contamination confirmed in groundwater — the direct legacy of those long-buried heating oil and motor oil tanks — required investigation, tank removal, and remediation through the Voluntary Cleanup Program. Historical CGL carriers who insured operations during the pre-1986 window when these tanks were active may still be obligated to respond to the cleanup costs incurred at this site.
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.