This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1917. 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.

Contamination at this property — perchloroethylene, Stoddard solvent, and petroleum hydrocarbons — originated from laundry and dry cleaning operations that began in 1917, nearly seven decades before 1986 when occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The pre-1986 carriers who insured Richmond Laundry during its long operational history had no effective pollution exclusion and remain potentially obligated to respond to the contamination those operations caused. The site's documented remediation costs — UST removals, removal of over 13,000 tons of impacted soil, groundwater monitoring, and ongoing remedial work — represent expenditures those historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.