This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1963. 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.

ALDC's entire nineteen-year operating life — 1963 through 1982 — fell within the pre-1986 window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The release mechanism here, leaky equipment and underground piping discharging spent PCE solvents over nearly two decades, is the kind of gradual, subsurface contamination those policies were written to cover. Carriers who issued CGL coverage to ALDC or the property owner during those years may be obligated to fund the excavation, bioremediation, and long-term monitoring that the proposed cleanup plan calls for.

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.