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 was converted from residential use to a Texaco retail fuel station in 1970, with five first-generation underground storage tanks — three 8,000-gallon gasoline, one 1,000-gallon heating oil, and one 500-gallon waste oil — installed in 1971. Those original tanks were removed in August 1991 and replaced with second-generation USTs. Petroleum hydrocarbons, including diesel-range and other petroleum compounds, were identified in groundwater, and the site proceeded through the Voluntary Cleanup Program, culminating in a No Further Action determination following the April 2013 Cleanup Action Report. 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 in groundwater at this property traces to underground storage tanks installed in 1971 and operated for two decades before removal — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The remediation expenditures documented across the Voluntary Cleanup Program were incurred to address releases from those pre-1986 fuel storage operations. Historical carriers who provided CGL coverage to Texaco or subsequent operators during the 1970s and 1980s 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.