This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Unocal-branded gasoline service station equipped with two 10,000-gallon steel gasoline tanks, a 550-gallon heating oil tank, and a 550-gallon waste oil tank. A 1988 subsurface contamination study found the station already inactive, with petroleum impacts in groundwater requiring investigation. All four underground storage tanks were removed in April 1990, and the site has since achieved No Further Action status under Washington's cleanup program. 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 benzene and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination documented in groundwater here originated from large steel underground storage tanks that were in service well before the station went inactive in the late 1980s. Investigation and tank-removal costs were incurred to address releases tied to those pre-1986 fueling operations — the period when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Historical carriers who issued policies during the station's active operating years may still be obligated to indemnify those cleanup expenditures.
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.