This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1951. 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.

Dry cleaning operations at this address began in 1951, opening a policy window that stretches more than three decades before 1986 — each year representing CGL coverage potentially in force when the underlying PCE releases first occurred. The contamination documented here includes PCE, TCE, vinyl chloride, benzene, and methylene chloride, the kind of slow subsurface migration that accrues liability across multiple successive policy periods. The remediation expenditures accumulated since 2006, and the ongoing treatment costs going forward, could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies covered operations at this site during that extended pre-1986 window.

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.