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 a gasoline station — originally as Sunmart #9 before Circle K ownership — with four single-wall steel underground storage tanks whose construction type dates them to the early-to-mid 1980s or earlier. The USTs were removed in April 2019 in relatively good condition with only slight corrosion. Investigation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program identified benzene, diesel-range and gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons, and halogenated solvents including trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene in soil and groundwater beneath the property. 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 single-wall steel USTs at this station were almost certainly installed before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies routinely covered petroleum operations like Sunmart #9 without effective pollution exclusions. The contamination documented here — benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons, and chlorinated solvents including TCE and PCE in both soil and groundwater — represents the kind of long-duration release from aging underground tanks that those pre-1986 occurrence-based policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who insured this station's fueling operations during that pre-1986 window may bear obligations for the investigation and remediation costs incurred to bring the site to its current 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
Stay up to date on environmental property cleanup laws and changes.
Report Email Updates
Request more information on this property
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.