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 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.

The detection of PCE alongside its stepwise degradation products — TCE, DCE, and vinyl chloride — in groundwater is the hallmark of a slow, long-term release, making it highly probable that contaminating operations were ongoing well before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to operators of this dry cleaning facility during that pre-1986 window contained no effective pollution exclusion and may remain enforceable against historical carriers today. The costs now confronting this property — ongoing monitoring, remedial investigation, and future active cleanup of soil, groundwater, and air — represent expenditures that those historical carriers could plausibly be obligated to fund.

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.