This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1972. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Time Oil Company installed two underground storage tanks at this property in 1972 under a Special Purpose Agreement with the site owner and operated them continuously for gasoline dispensing. The site also housed a laundry and dry cleaning operation from 1964 to 1995. Petroleum contamination — MTBE, benzene, and gasoline-range hydrocarbons — was found in groundwater, with free-product (LNAPL) detected in multiple monitoring wells and a contamination plume extending onto the adjacent Washington Hills Cellars property. A remedial investigation and feasibility study was completed in 1999 under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, and the site 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 petroleum release at this property traces to underground storage tanks installed and continuously operated by Time Oil Company beginning in 1972 — fourteen years before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to the claims-made pollution exclusion. The contamination was severe enough to generate free-product in groundwater and migrate beyond the property boundary, driving investigation and remediation costs across two parcels. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operator or property owner during the 1972–1986 window may be obligated to cover those documented cleanup expenditures.
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.