This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline station with a service bay and retail building from the 1940s through the late 1980s, located on the Kittitas County side of Snoqualmie Pass. An Independent Cleanup Action completed in 2009 under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of underground storage tanks — with the original station foundations still in place — and recovery of approximately 12,400 gallons of contaminated 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.
Gasoline station operations at this property began in the 1940s, more than four decades before occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in 1986. Benzene and petroleum hydrocarbons detected in groundwater here are consistent with decades of fuel storage and dispensing from underground tanks installed during that pre-1986 window. The documented 2009 cleanup expenditures — UST removal, groundwater recovery, and associated investigation — represent costs that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's operating years may still 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.