This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline service station from at least 1964, when Union Oil Company of California (Unocal) purchased what had been McKale's service station. The original First Generation Tank Complex included two 3,000-gallon and one 6,000-gallon gasoline USTs plus a 280-gallon waste oil UST; in 1967 the station was demolished and replaced with a Second Generation Tank Complex comprising two 10,000-gallon USTs, a 550-gallon heating oil UST, and a 550-gallon waste oil UST, with an additional 8,000-gallon fiberglass UST added in 1984. Remediation was conducted under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, and the site has 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.
Gasoline storage and dispensing at this property spanned at least two decades before 1986, with multiple generations of underground storage tanks installed in the 1960s and expanded through 1984. The petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene, halogenated organics, and metals now documented in groundwater are the legacy of those pre-1986 fueling operations. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the station's operators during that window — from the McKale's era through Unocal's ownership — may still respond to the remediation costs incurred to achieve 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.