This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1960. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property operated as a gasoline service station — known as the Rose Hill Gull Station — from the early 1960s through at least 1985, with three underground storage tanks on site for fuel dispensing. The USTs were removed in July 1988 and the property was redeveloped that same year. A 2017 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment identified the former gas station operation as a recognized environmental condition, and a subsequent subsurface investigation confirmed arsenic, benzene, and petroleum hydrocarbons at concentrations above cleanup levels in groundwater beneath the property. The site is now in the Standard Cleanup program awaiting remediation. 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.
Gasoline service operations at this property began more than two decades before 1986, with underground storage tanks installed in the 1960s and continuous fuel dispensing through at least 1985. The petroleum and benzene contamination now confirmed in groundwater is characteristic of the slow, cumulative releases that occurrence-based CGL policies — issued without effective pollution exclusions during that operational window — were written to cover. The investigation, design, and remediation costs the property now faces could plausibly be funded by the historical carriers whose policies were in force when the contamination first occurred.
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.