This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1956. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property has been in continuous commercial use since at least the mid-1950s. A Gull Industries gas station operated on site from the 1950s through the 1980s with five underground storage tanks — a 1986 UST Notification Form confirmed those tanks were more than thirty years old at the time of the fuel island's demolition. Tacoma Dry Cleaners began operating at the property in April 1987, using tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in its dry cleaning processes. An ongoing Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has confirmed PCE contamination in both groundwater and soil gas above MTCA Method A cleanup levels, with groundwater monitoring conducted from 2016 through 2019 and soil-gas sampling from 2017 through 2019. 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.
Commercial operations at this property date to the 1950s, and the environmental liabilities now being investigated trace to decades of chemical use on site. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the property's operators during the pre-1986 gas station era carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington and remain enforceable today. With an active RI/FS underway and cleanup costs still mounting — investigation, monitoring, and future remediation — historical carriers whose policies covered this property during those early decades of operation may be obligated both to reimburse past expenditures and to fund the cleanup 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.
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.