This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1948. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Pierce Transit operated this property as a maintenance and operations facility from 1948 through 1987, servicing its vehicle fleet for nearly four decades. In 1986, approximately 400 gallons of waste oil were recovered from an on-site oil recovery trench, and in 1998 ten underground storage tanks — installed decades earlier — were removed from the property. Documented releases of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soil and groundwater near the former UST locations. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and has since 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.
Pierce Transit's maintenance operations at this property spanned from 1948 to 1987 — nearly the entire era during which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were issued without effective pollution exclusions. The petroleum contamination documented in soil and groundwater here traces to underground storage tanks installed and operated throughout that pre-1986 window. Remediation costs incurred across more than a decade of cleanup activity — waste oil recovery, UST removal, and associated soil and groundwater work — are the type of expenditures that historical CGL carriers who insured the facility during its decades of pre-1986 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.