This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1959. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as Gull Station No. 1253, a gasoline service station with four underground storage tanks installed circa 1959. Ownership subsequently passed to Texaco U.S.A. and then Shell Oil Products. The original first-generation USTs were removed in September 1991, and petroleum contamination — including benzene and other petroleum hydrocarbons — was identified in groundwater beneath the site. The property entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and received a No Further Action determination in December 2013. 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 petroleum contamination in groundwater at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed approximately 1959 — nearly three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still provided broad pollution coverage. The remediation expenditures incurred to bring this property from active contamination through the Voluntary Cleanup Program to a No Further Action determination represent costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's operational window may still be obligated to recover those 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.