This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1936. 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.

Contamination at this property — petroleum hydrocarbons from the gas station era and PCE from six decades of dry cleaning — originated from operations that began as early as 1936, spanning the entire period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were in effect without meaningful pollution exclusions. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to operators at any point before 1986 had no effective exclusion for these slow, ongoing releases and may remain obligated today. The site's documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, soil excavation, multi-year characterization, and projected groundwater monitoring — represent costs that historical carriers may be liable both to recover and to fund as cleanup advances.

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.