This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1929. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 using solvents that produced PCE and TCE contamination began at this site in 1929 — more than five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies lost their effective pollution coverage. Because active operations spanned 1929 to 1945, multiple policy years and potentially multiple carriers are implicated, broadening the universe of historical insurers who may still bear obligations under those pre-1986 occurrence-based policies. All remediation expenditures at this site — investigation, feasibility study, cleanup design, and eventual active remediation — remain ahead of the property owner, and historical carriers whose policies were in force during those active dry cleaning years could plausibly be called upon to fund them.

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.