This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1955. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This commercial property housed multiple operations before 1986, including retail gasoline service stations active from 1955 to 1976 and One-Hour Martinizing, a dry cleaning business that operated at the property until 1986. The site is defined primarily by tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination in soil, groundwater, and soil vapor originating from the dry cleaning operation, with petroleum hydrocarbon contamination from the former service stations also present. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has included tank removal, excavation of approximately 59,000 tons of contaminated soil and 2,000 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted material, groundwater collection and discharge treatment, and operation of a soil vapor extraction system with a catalytic oxidizer for PCE removal. Long-term controls include environmental covenants, vapor barriers, drainage systems, stormwater restrictions, and ongoing monitoring with periodic reviews. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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.
Both the dry cleaning operations and the gasoline service stations that contaminated this property were active well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The PCE plume in soil, groundwater, and vapor — along with the petroleum hydrocarbon releases from multiple underground storage tanks — reflects contamination that accumulated throughout that pre-1986 coverage window. The scale of documented remediation at this site, encompassing tens of thousands of tons of soil excavation, vapor extraction infrastructure, and an extended covenant-and-monitoring regime, represents expenditures the historical carriers whose policies were in force during those decades of operation may be obligated 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.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
