This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1945. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property housed a commercial fueling station from 1945 through 1955, after which fueling operations ceased. The station structure was demolished in 1979, but four underground storage tanks remained buried on the property until their discovery and removal in May 1994. Ecology issued an Agreed Order in 1995 addressing petroleum contamination, and groundwater sampling confirmed non-halogenated petroleum organics beneath the site. A Site Hazard Assessment was completed and the site received a No Further Action determination in 2014. 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 contamination in groundwater at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed during fueling operations that began in 1945 — more than four decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies. The tanks remained in the ground for nearly 40 years after the station closed, creating the type of long-duration subsurface release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued policies during the 1945–1955 operational window may be obligated to reimburse the remediation costs documented through the Agreed Order and cleanup process.
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.