This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property, historically operated as a car dealership, housed a 1,000-gallon steel gasoline underground storage tank that was closed in place in 1996 and removed in July 2022. Upon removal, the tank exhibited a hole along its side, consistent with decades of subsurface deterioration. A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment confirmed gasoline-range total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in groundwater at 16,000 µg/L in boring B-4 — well above MTCA Method A cleanup levels — with both gasoline- and diesel-range petroleum contamination documented in groundwater. The site 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.
Based on the steel tank's lifecycle, the gasoline UST at this property was very likely installed in the early 1970s — more than a decade before the 1986 threshold when occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The petroleum release confirmed in groundwater at concentrations far exceeding state cleanup standards traces directly to that pre-1986 infrastructure. Investigation, UST decommissioning, and the 2022 tank removal represent documented expenditures that historical carriers who insured these operations may be obligated to cover.
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.