This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline fueling station with three 10,000-gallon single-wall steel underground storage tanks — a tank design that predates the 1988 federal regulations requiring corrosion protection for new UST installations. Gasoline impacts were first observed during a UST system upgrade in November 1995, and all three tanks were removed in December 2009 under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. Groundwater sampling confirmed benzene, ethylbenzene, total xylenes, TPH-G, and lead at concentrations exceeding MTCA Method A cleanup levels; the site has since achieved No Further Action status. 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.
The single-wall bare steel USTs at this property were necessarily installed before the 1988 federal ban on unprotected tank construction, placing their operational origin firmly in the pre-1986 window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum and lead contamination documented in groundwater here is the direct result of releases from those tanks during that covered period. Remediation expenditures — tank removal, site investigation, and cleanup to No Further Action standards — represent costs that historical carriers who insured this fueling operation may still be obligated to recover.
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.