This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1946. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
A Flying A gasoline service station operated at this property from 1946 through the early 1980s, with at least two 1,000-gallon underground storage tanks storing gasoline and diesel fuel. The station was demolished in the mid-1980s and the tanks were removed before 1990; the City of Bothell acquired the property in May 1990. Subsequent investigations confirmed halogenated volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and petroleum contamination in groundwater exceeding MTCA cleanup levels, and a pump-and-treat system was installed in 2014 to prevent contaminant discharge to the Sammamish River. The site has since achieved No Further Action status. 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 and solvent contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated beginning in 1946 — four decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with pollution exclusions. The remediation expenditures documented here — site investigations spanning from 1990 through the 2010s, groundwater treatment infrastructure, and long-term monitoring to protect the Sammamish River — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's 1946-to-early-1980s operational window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup costs.
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.