This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1983. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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.

PCE contamination at this property originated from dry cleaning operations that began in 1983 — three years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased reliably covering pollution claims in Washington. The slow, subsurface migration of chlorinated solvents from a closed-loop machine is precisely the kind of gradual release those pre-1986 policies were written to address. Decades of remediation expenditures already incurred — vapor mitigation systems, institutional controls, long-term groundwater monitoring — and the costs still ahead represent obligations that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the 1983–1986 window may be required to fund.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.