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 Texaco station 63-183-0120, a Texaco-branded gasoline facility in Battle Ground carrying LUST designation ID 2174. A former used oil underground storage tank at the site leaked methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) into groundwater above MTCA cleanup levels. Shell GRASP groundwater monitoring was conducted from June 2006 through August 2009 as part of the remediation effort, and the site ultimately met Method A Cleanup Levels for both soil and groundwater. Ecology issued a No Further Action determination in August 2015. 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 MTBE groundwater contamination here originated from a used oil tank installed and operated during the facility's Texaco-branded era — a period predating 1986, when the CGL policies insuring fuel station operators like Texaco routinely covered environmental releases without a pollution exclusion. The documented costs of remediating that MTBE release to Method A standards, including Shell GRASP groundwater monitoring from 2006 through 2009 and the regulatory process culminating in the August 2015 NFA, are expenditures those Texaco-era carriers may be obligated to fund.
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.