This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1963. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline service station from at least 1963, originally leased from Unocal Corporation by Clark Holcomb, who purchased the station in 1977. Two 6,000-gallon underground storage tanks were on-site when the property changed hands again in January 1984; one original tank was replaced in August 1985, and the remaining original tank was removed in February 1991 under Consent Decree No. DE 91IC-S266. A remedial investigation confirmed petroleum contamination in groundwater, with benzene at 742 ppb, toluene at 315 ppb, and xylenes at 1,230 ppb — all exceeding Ecology cleanup standards. The site has since received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary 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.
Petroleum releases at this station originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated continuously from 1963 — more than two decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. The carriers who issued CGL policies to the station's operators during that 1963-to-1986 window wrote occurrence-based coverage with no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. Documented remediation costs — tank removals, site investigation, groundwater cleanup to meet Ecology standards for benzene, toluene, and xylenes — represent expenditures those historical carriers may still be obligated to reimburse.
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.