This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1973. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline service station with three underground storage tanks — two 10,000-gallon gasoline USTs and one 12,000-gallon diesel UST — that were identified as leaking and removed in September 1998. An initial environmental assessment in 1997 revealed contamination, and subsequent investigation confirmed benzene, methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), and petroleum-gasoline compounds in groundwater. The site entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program and received a No Further Action determination, with the earliest remediation record dating to the White Shield LUST Closure Report of November 1998. 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 underground storage tanks at this property were likely installed in the early-to-mid 1970s or earlier, placing the origin of petroleum operations well before 1986 — the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The groundwater contamination documented here — benzene, MTBE, and gasoline-range hydrocarbons — is directly attributable to releases from those long-operating USTs. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the decades these tanks were in service may still bear obligation for the investigation and remediation costs incurred at this site.
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.