This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a gasoline service station for decades, cycling through at least five brands — Shell, ARCO, AM PM, 7-Eleven, and Tesoro. In 1993, three underground storage tanks on the northern portion of the property were decommissioned and a leaking-UST report was submitted to Ecology. Investigation confirmed petroleum and lead contamination in groundwater, including benzene, petroleum-diesel range organics, and petroleum-gasoline range organics. All groundwater contaminants have since been remediated below applicable cleanup levels, and the site received a No Further Action determination in October 2024. 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 decommissioned in 1993 were very likely installed in the late 1960s to late 1970s — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies covered pollution claims without effective exclusion. The petroleum and lead contamination in groundwater originated from those pre-1986 tank operations, and the remediation costs incurred to bring the site to No Further Action status are the type of expenditure that historical CGL carriers may be obligated to recover. Five successive gas station operators over this property's history means multiple policy periods — and potentially multiple carriers — with coverage obligations tied to these releases.
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.