This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1957. 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.

The contamination at this site originated from dry cleaning operations that ran for roughly two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry norm and pollution exclusions were not yet effective in Washington. PCE and its daughter compounds are slow-migrating contaminants whose full extent may not manifest for years after the source operations ceased — precisely the kind of gradual release those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. The documented remediation costs here — more than two decades of monitoring, interim actions, and ongoing groundwater treatment — represent expenditures that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the St. Johns Dry Cleaners operating window 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.