This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was constructed as a Mobil Oil station in 1970 and operated as a fuel service station for decades, with three 12,000-gallon underground storage tanks on site. Subsurface investigation in 1988 and UST monitoring compliance work in 1989 documented conditions at the facility, which by then operated under the BP brand. The USTs were removed as part of a 2008 remedial action after petroleum hydrocarbons had migrated to groundwater; four quarters of groundwater monitoring followed in 2009, and Ecology issued a No Further Action opinion under the Voluntary Cleanup Program in December 2009. 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 site — lead, benzene, diesel-range and gasoline-range hydrocarbons in groundwater — originated from fueling operations that began in 1970, well within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. Policies issued to operators of this station during the sixteen years before 1986 carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removal, subsurface investigation, and multi-quarter groundwater monitoring — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers who covered the station during that pre-1986 window may be obligated to reimburse.
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.