This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1983. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
7-Eleven began convenience store and retail gasoline operations at this property in 1983, installing three 12,000-gallon single-wall fiberglass underground storage tanks and dispensing equipment on November 1, 1983. Subsurface investigation confirmed petroleum-related groundwater contamination, with benzene detected at 33.4 µg/L — more than six times the cleanup level — and total petroleum hydrocarbons (gasoline) at 1,160 µg/L. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and has achieved No Further Action status, with both benzene and petroleum-gasoline concentrations remediated below cleanup levels. 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 USTs installed at this property in November 1983 predate 1986 by nearly three years, placing the contamination's origin squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum releases from those single-wall fiberglass tanks — confirmed by benzene and TPH-G contamination in groundwater requiring remediation — are the type of gradual, below-ground release these policies were designed to cover. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the 1983–1986 operational window may still be obligated to recover the cleanup costs incurred to bring this site to No Further Action status.
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.