This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as a US West Communications Service Operations Center — originally operated by Pacific Northwest Bell before the 1984 AT&T divestiture — with fleet fueling and building utility infrastructure including gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and waste oil underground storage tanks. Four USTs were removed in 1993 and 1996, and petroleum-contaminated groundwater was detected during the initial tank removal. Diesel, heavy oil range hydrocarbons, gasoline, and benzene exceeded cleanup levels in groundwater through 2008, prompting Modified Fenton's Reagent injection treatments in 2006, 2008, and 2011 and continued monitoring through 2014 until concentrations met applicable standards. The site has received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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.
This facility's corporate lineage traces to Pacific Northwest Bell, which operated the Moses Lake Service Operations Center before the 1984 AT&T breakup — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum releases from fleet fueling tanks at a facility with that pre-1986 operational history generated over two decades of remediation expenditures: tank removals, groundwater treatment by chemical oxidation, and long-term monitoring from the mid-1990s through 2014. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during Pacific Northwest Bell's tenure may still be obligated to cover those documented 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.