This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1930. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Retail gasoline service stations operated at this property from the 1930s through 2006, spanning multiple ownership periods and facility configurations. The original 1930s-era station was demolished between 1951 and 1952 and replaced with an updated configuration; Time Oil purchased the property in 1965 and installed three underground storage tanks — 4,000, 6,000, and 12,000 gallons — between 1965 and 1970. A 2017 UST closure investigation discovered three additional abandoned tanks believed to date to the 1930s-era operations and confirmed benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons, and non-halogenated solvents in groundwater. The site has achieved No Further Action status under Washington's 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.
Gasoline storage and dispensing operations at this property began more than five decades before 1986, generating contamination now confirmed in groundwater beneath the site. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to operators across that long pre-1986 window — from the 1930s-era original station through Time Oil's 1965–1970 UST installations — carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation costs associated with UST closure, investigation, and groundwater contamination at this site represent expenditures that historical carriers who wrote those policies may still be obligated to cover.
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.