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 at 801 E 11th Street in Tacoma operated as the Texaco Gas and Deli, a gasoline service station and convenience store, until its closure in 1998. Aerial photographs from 1931 through 1973 show the property was previously vacant or used for parking and storage before the gas station was established. Three underground storage tanks — 6,000-, 8,000-, and 10,000-gallon capacity — were removed in March 1998, and subsequent investigation confirmed benzene and petroleum contamination in groundwater. The site completed cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program and has received a No Further Action determination. 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 gasoline operations at this property were established after 1973 and continued through 1998, placing the station's early operating years squarely within the pre-1986 window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Petroleum releases from three large underground storage tanks contaminated groundwater with benzene and other petroleum compounds — the type of gradual, ongoing release these policies were designed to cover. Historical carriers who insured the station's operators during that pre-1986 period may bear obligation for the investigation and remediation costs incurred to reach the site's No Further Action status.
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.