This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1963. 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.

PCE and mineral-spirits contamination at this property originated from dry cleaning operations that began in 1963, more than two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies routinely incorporated effective pollution exclusions. The timeline of releases — spanning decades of active solvent use and confirmed in both soil and groundwater — is precisely the slow-onset contamination pattern those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. Historical carriers whose policies were in force during that operational window may bear obligations both to recover costs already spent on extraction and tank removal and to fund the $2.2 million in remediation work ahead.

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.