This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1936. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property was developed as a gasoline service station around 1938 under a 1936 lease to the Gilmore Oil Company, as confirmed by King County Assessor photographs, historical aerial imagery, and title records with sewer connections dating to September 1936. A 2016 Environmental Site Investigation found extensive petroleum contamination in soil — gasoline at concentrations up to 6,800 mg/kg — with at least two underground storage tanks still unremediated beneath the property. Groundwater contamination by benzene and petroleum hydrocarbons is suspected but has not been fully characterized, and no active cleanup work has commenced. 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 gasoline station at this property operated for more than two decades before 1986, beginning under a 1936 lease to Gilmore Oil Company — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum contamination now documented in soil and suspected in groundwater traces to those decades of fuel storage and dispensing from tanks that remain in the ground today. As investigation and remediation costs accumulate at a site that has yet to begin cleanup, historical CGL policies issued to the operators during that pre-1986 window represent a plausible funding source for the work ahead.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.
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.