This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
A Chevron service station operated at this property from the 1970s until 1990, with six steel underground storage tanks — including tanks for gasoline, used oil, and heating oil — removed in February 1991. Petroleum contamination (TPH-G, TPH-D, TPH-O) was subsequently detected in groundwater above MTCA Method A cleanup levels during 2005–2006 monitoring events. Remediation was conducted under the Voluntary Cleanup Program and an Agreed Order with the Department of Ecology, and groundwater concentrations have since been reduced below cleanup levels, earning the site 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.
Chevron's service station operations at this site began in the 1970s — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum releases from those underground storage tanks triggered years of groundwater monitoring and remediation, costs that fall squarely within the coverage window of pre-1986 CGL policies. Historical carriers who insured these operations during the 1970s and 1980s may still bear obligations for the remediation expenditures incurred to bring the site to closure.
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.