This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1955. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a retail gasoline and service station from the mid-1950s until ceasing operations in 2007, with aerial photographs confirming site development as early as 1936. At least twelve underground storage tanks held gasoline, diesel, heating oil, fuel oil, stove oil, and waste oil over the decades; three USTs in the southeast corner of the property were abandoned in place in 1985. Groundwater contamination — benzene, petroleum-diesel, petroleum-gasoline, and petroleum-other compounds — was identified and addressed through the Voluntary Cleanup Program, culminating in a No Further Action opinion from Ecology in October 2012. 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 the groundwater at this property originated from underground storage tank operations that began in the mid-1950s — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies ceased to be the industry standard. The scale of the fueling infrastructure here — at least twelve USTs handling multiple petroleum products over a half-century of continuous operation — and the resulting groundwater contamination represent the kind of long-duration release those pre-1986 policies were designed to cover. Historical carriers who insured the station during its first three decades of operation may still owe a duty to cover the remediation expenditures that led to the site's No Further Action determination.
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
Stay up to date on environmental property cleanup laws and changes.
Report Email Updates
Request more information on this property
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.