This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1942. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Bott Fuel Facility in Tacoma operated as a bulk fuel storage and distribution site beginning in 1942, when the predecessor of Bott Fuel Inc. purchased the property with underground storage tanks already in service holding stove oil. Two additional 10,000-gallon USTs were installed in the mid-1940s, supporting a retail gasoline station that operated until 1966 and a heating oil distribution business that continued until 1981. Groundwater investigations under the Voluntary Cleanup Program identified metals, petroleum products, and non-halogenated solvents; 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.
Fuel storage and distribution operations at this Tacoma property spanned nearly four decades — from 1942 through 1981 — entirely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were issued without effective pollution exclusions. The groundwater contamination documented here, including petroleum products and metals, traces to underground storage tanks that were installed and operated throughout that pre-1986 window. Historical carriers who wrote CGL policies covering Bott Fuel Inc. or its predecessor during those decades of fuel operations may still bear obligations for the remediation costs incurred at this site.
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.