This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1959. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as a Union 76 gasoline service station from the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, with Unocal (Union Oil Company) maintaining ownership or lease interests from 1956 until 1978. Petroleum contamination — both gasoline and diesel hydrocarbons — has been documented in groundwater beneath the site. The property entered Washington's Voluntary Cleanup Program and has since received a No Further Action determination. The former service station site now operates as LaBamba Restaurant. 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 station operations at this property began in the late 1950s, placing more than two decades of fuel dispensing and storage squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. The petroleum contamination confirmed in groundwater is the direct legacy of those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Unocal or its lessees during the service station's operational window — from roughly 1959 through the mid-1970s — may bear obligations for the remediation costs incurred to bring this site to its 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.