This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1966. 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.

The PCE and TCE contamination at this property originated from dry cleaning operations conducted entirely within the pre-1986 window — Montlake Cleaners opened in 1966 and continued operating through 1990, two decades of solvent disposal that predates the effective pollution exclusions adopted by commercial insurers after 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators during those years would have covered precisely the kind of slow, subsurface contamination that foundation-drain solvent disposal creates. The documented remediation costs here — subslab depressurization, vapor extraction infrastructure, activated carbon treatment systems, and multi-year operation — represent expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund as cleanup continues.

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.