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 Chevron-branded gasoline service station from as early as 1964, with five underground storage tanks — including 10,000-gallon leaded and unleaded gasoline tanks, a 5,000-gallon supreme unleaded tank, and used oil and heating oil tanks — serving retail fuel operations until the station was decommissioned between January and March 1992. A 1990 Preliminary Environmental Investigation confirmed benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene in groundwater exceeding Ecology cleanup guidelines across multiple monitoring wells. The site completed cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, with a Cleanup Action Report issued in May 2014 and 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 from underground storage tanks installed and operated at this station from the mid-1960s through 1992 — with lead, benzene, and diesel- and gasoline-range hydrocarbons confirmed in groundwater — traces directly to operations that ran more than two decades before 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The remediation costs incurred from initial investigation in 1990 through the 2014 Cleanup Action Report represent documented expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated to reimburse.
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.