This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1936. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a neighborhood grocery store since 1936. In 1977, three underground storage tanks were installed — two containing unleaded gasoline (6,000-gallon and 4,000-gallon) and one 4,000-gallon tank of super unleaded gasoline — along with a four-pump pump island. A gasoline release from the USTs contaminated groundwater with petroleum hydrocarbons and migrated off-site to a neighboring residential property, where vapor intrusion was detected in the crawlspace. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and has since received a No Further Action determination. 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 underground storage tanks installed at this property in 1977 were in place nearly a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still provided broad coverage for pollution events without an effective exclusion. The petroleum release that contaminated on-site groundwater and migrated to a neighboring residence — causing vapor intrusion — traces directly to those pre-1986 fuel storage operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the late 1970s and early 1980s may hold obligations to reimburse the remediation costs incurred to address this gasoline release and its off-site impacts.
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.