This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1980. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Union 76 gasoline station with three underground storage tanks — one 12,000-gallon and two 8,000-gallon — installed in 1980 according to Washington Department of Ecology records. The USTs were decommissioned and removed in January 2017, with subsequent investigation confirming petroleum-diesel and gasoline contamination along with benzene in soil and petroleum-diesel impacts in groundwater. The site was addressed through 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.
The underground storage tanks at this site were installed in 1980, six years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. Petroleum contamination from gasoline and diesel operations during that pre-1986 window migrated into both soil and groundwater, triggering investigation and UST removal costs decades later. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering the Union 76 station during those years of operation may still be obligated to recover those documented 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.