This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as the Sumas Texaco gas station at 908 Cherry Street in Sumas, where underground storage tanks released petroleum products — including gasoline — into the groundwater. A 1991 Site Characterization Report documented the existing contamination, and four monitoring wells were installed and sampled for total petroleum hydrocarbons and BTEX compounds (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene). The site was remediated through the Voluntary Cleanup Program and received No Further Action status following confirmation letters issued in 1999 and 2000. 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 underground storage tanks at this Texaco station were in place and already leaking by 1991, placing their installation squarely in the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum release into groundwater — the type of gradual, ongoing contamination those policies were designed to cover — triggered years of site characterization, monitoring-well installation, and groundwater sampling before the site achieved closure. Historical carriers who provided CGL coverage during the decades those tanks were dispensing fuel may still bear obligations for the remediation costs incurred at this property.
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.