This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1960. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was constructed as a military barracks-type facility in 1943 and converted to a construction-trucking business center in 1956, with Consolidated Freightways operating it as a trucking terminal from at least 1960 until sometime prior to 2003. Twelve underground storage tanks — holding gasoline, diesel, lube oil, waste oil, and heating oil — were present on-site and decommissioned in phases between 1988 and 2017. Contamination assessment beginning in 1988 identified benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons, and halogenated solvents in groundwater, and the site completed cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program with 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.
Petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated as part of a trucking terminal that ran continuously from at least 1960 — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were still standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The remediation timeline spanning from 1988 through 2017, encompassing the decommissioning of twelve USTs and associated groundwater investigation, represents cleanup expenditures tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the 1960-through-1985 operational window may still be obligated to recover those documented 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.