This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1973. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was developed as a retail gasoline service station in 1973, with underground storage tanks installed that same year after Time Oil Co. (now TOC Holdings Co.) purchased the site in 1972. A convenience store was added to the property in 1984. Groundwater beneath the site was found to be impacted by benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons in the gasoline range, and non-halogenated solvents — contamination addressed through the Voluntary Cleanup Program, which culminated in Ecology issuing a No Further Action determination in 2017. 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 site traces directly to underground storage tanks installed and operated beginning in 1973 — thirteen years before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The remediation costs incurred to bring this property from an active release through the Voluntary Cleanup Program to a No Further Action determination represent expenditures that historical carriers who wrote policies during the 1973–1985 operational window may be obligated to cover. Multiple independent records — Ecology's UST database, City of Yakima development permits, and Ecology's own NFA letter — document the pre-1986 origin of operations, providing an unusually strong evidentiary foundation for a policy recovery claim.
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.