This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 PCE contamination at Block 10 traces directly to dry-cleaning and commercial laundry operations conducted decades before 1986 — the threshold year after which the insurance industry began writing effective pollution exclusions into Commercial General Liability policies. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to operators at this property during that pre-1986 window carry no such exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The remediation cost trail here is substantial: tens of thousands of tons of excavated soil, ten UST removals, groundwater treatment infrastructure, vapor controls, and monitoring obligations running through at least 2030 — all expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated to recover.

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.