This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1948. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

Dry cleaning operations at this site began more than three decades before 1986, and the switch to PCE in 1974 — followed by a documented release in 1975 and years of waste disposal — places the contamination origin squarely within the era of occurrence-based CGL policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. Decades of remediation expenditures have already been incurred, and additional cleanup phases are still ahead. Historical carriers who issued policies during the 1940s-through-1986 operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains.

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.