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 Chevron filling station at 1233 Alder St in Centralia operated with six underground storage tanks — four gasoline, one heating oil, and one waste oil — which were removed in 1978. Groundwater monitoring beginning in 1991 revealed petroleum-gasoline contamination at concentrations as high as 31,000 ppb TPH-G in monitoring well MW-4, along with benzene, lead, non-halogenated solvents, and diesel-range petroleum compounds in groundwater. The station was subsequently razed, and the site achieved No Further Action status through the Voluntary Cleanup Program with an NFA letter issued in 2023. 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 six USTs at this property were installed and operated well before their 1978 removal, placing the contamination-causing fueling operations squarely within the era when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Groundwater contamination documented across multiple classes — petroleum-gasoline, diesel, benzene, lead, and non-halogenated solvents — reflects the legacy of those pre-1986 operations and the decades of monitoring required to reach closure. The remediation and long-term monitoring costs incurred from 1991 through the 2023 No Further Action determination represent expenditures that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the operational window may be obligated to recover.
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.