This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This service station was constructed in 1968 with three underground storage tanks — two 6,000-gallon gasoline tanks and a 300-gallon heating oil tank. Two additional tanks, a 2,000-gallon diesel tank and a 300-gallon waste oil tank, were added in 1974, and the tank system was upgraded again in 1995. Groundwater monitoring through four wells installed between 2006 and 2009 confirmed contamination with gasoline, benzene, toluene, and xylenes. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and received a No Further Action determination from Ecology in July 2011. 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 at this property traces to underground storage tanks installed in 1968 and expanded in 1974 — nearly two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The remediation costs incurred here, including tank removals, groundwater monitoring, and the investigation work underlying the NFA determination, arose from releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who wrote CGL policies covering this service station during its first eighteen years of operation may still owe indemnity for 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.