This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1939. 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 at this property began in 1939 and ran through 1975 — more than a decade before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to provide meaningful pollution coverage. The PCE and TCE contamination documented here, now surfacing as vapor intrusion into indoor air and sub-slab soil gas, is precisely the kind of slow, diffuse release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to cover. The remediation costs this property has yet to incur — active cleanup, extended vapor intrusion controls, and monitoring of the neighboring residence — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force when those solvents first entered the subsurface.

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.