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 at Paine Field in Everett housed underground storage tanks across multiple former buildings, with a UST decommissioning at 2900 112th Street SW completed by 1998 as documented in a July 1998 No Further Action letter and supporting February 1998 remediation report. Six additional USTs were removed from Former Buildings 620, 636, and 654 in 2008, and a 2009 Further Action letter confirmed that petroleum hydrocarbon releases had impacted groundwater at the site. Groundwater was classified with an RB status for petroleum contaminants under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, which has since reached No Further Action status. 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 USTs decommissioned at this address by 1998 — and the six additional tanks removed a decade later in 2008 — point to fuel storage infrastructure installed well before 1986, consistent with Paine Field's operational history as an airport since the 1930s. The documented petroleum hydrocarbon releases that triggered the 1998 remediation effort and the 2009 further-action directive for groundwater characterization represent the type of long-tail environmental liability that occurrence-based CGL policies in effect during the installation era were written to cover. Historical carriers on the risk during those pre-1986 operational years may still owe a duty to fund the remediation costs incurred at this site.
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.