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 operated as an Exxon service station (Station No. 7-2885) with six single-wall underground storage tanks that were in service by at least 1990, when a Phase I Site Investigation confirmed active fueling operations. In 1995, the original USTs were closed and replaced with modern double-wall tanks, with a UST Closure Assessment conducted by AGRA that same year. Investigations spanning from 1990 through 2013 identified petroleum constituents including TPH and lead in soil and groundwater, with concentrations in monitoring wells MW-16 and MW-19 exceeding MTCA Method A Cleanup Levels. The site received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program in April 2013. 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 single-wall underground storage tanks at this Exxon station were old-technology construction consistent with installation in the early 1970s — well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Petroleum hydrocarbons and lead migrated into soil and groundwater from those tanks over decades of operation, generating the contamination that required more than twenty years of investigation and monitoring to resolve. Historical carriers who covered this station during its pre-1986 operating window may be obligated to reimburse the remediation expenditures incurred to reach the site's No Further Action status.
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.