This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1959. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Texaco-branded gasoline service station from approximately 1959 until 1998. First-generation underground storage tanks — an 8,000-gallon, two 4,000-gallon, and a 6,000-gallon gasoline tank, plus waste oil and heating oil USTs — were installed circa 1959 and removed in October 1993, when second-generation tanks replaced them. Groundwater monitoring confirmed ethylene dibromide (EDB) and total lead at concentrations exceeding MTCA Method A cleanup levels, though levels subsequently dropped below those thresholds. The site completed the Voluntary Cleanup Program and received a No Further Action determination in February 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 storage and dispensing operations at this station began in approximately 1959 — nearly three decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions in 1986. The groundwater contamination documented here, including EDB and lead at levels that triggered MTCA review, traces directly to decades of fuel storage in first-generation USTs installed during that pre-1986 coverage window. Historical carriers who wrote CGL policies for this Texaco station during its 1959-to-1986 operational period may still bear obligations to recover the investigation and remediation costs incurred to bring the site to No Further Action status.
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.