This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1981. 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.

Dry cleaning operations using PCE at this site began in 1981, several years before 1986 — the year occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in Washington. The PCE and TCE contamination documented in soil and groundwater here is characteristic of the slow, diffuse releases those pre-1986 policies were written to address. The documented remediation costs at this site — spill response, subsurface investigation, borehole work, and mandatory long-term groundwater monitoring — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies covered this facility during its pre-1986 operational years may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.