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 a gasoline station with three underground storage tanks — two 1,000-gallon and one 2,000-gallon — storing gasoline, all removed in October 1994. Contaminated soil and groundwater were discovered during and after the tank removal, with groundwater sampling confirming levels of TPH, benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes above 1994 MTCA Method A cleanup standards. Three monitoring wells were installed in March 1995, and long-term groundwater monitoring continued through 2010–2011, when sampling showed non-detect concentrations and the site 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.
The gasoline USTs at this property were in good condition when removed in 1994, indicating installation in the late 1970s to early 1980s — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum contamination discovered in soil and groundwater traces directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations, and the resulting cleanup effort — tank removal, soil remediation, monitoring-well installation, and more than fifteen years of groundwater monitoring — represents recoverable expenditures that historical CGL carriers may still be obligated to fund.
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
Stay up to date on environmental property cleanup laws and changes.
Report Email Updates
Request more information on this property
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.