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 Burien property served as a Fred Meyer fueling operation with three underground storage tanks — a 12,000-gallon diesel tank, a 2,000-gallon gasoline tank, and a 500-gallon waste oil tank — all decommissioned and removed on January 8, 1992. During removal, the bare steel tanks showed visible contamination from overfill, and a petroleum product sheen was observed floating on groundwater at six feet below grade. Subsequent testing confirmed groundwater total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations at 3.6 ppm, exceeding the state Method A cleanup standard of 1.0 ppm. The site has since 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 deteriorated condition of the bare steel tanks removed in 1992 — visible overfill contamination and petroleum sheen on groundwater — points to releases that began years or decades before removal, placing the contamination origin squarely in the pre-1986 policy era. Groundwater petroleum levels exceeding the state cleanup standard by more than threefold at this site generated the kind of documented remediation obligation that occurrence-based CGL policies were designed to cover. Historical carriers who insured the Fred Meyer Burien fueling operation during the years those tanks were actively deteriorating and leaking may still owe coverage for the cleanup costs incurred to bring the property to 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.