This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Westgate South Shopping Center site has been in continuous commercial use since 1950, when a Texaco service station was constructed at the corner of 26th and Pearl Street. A retail strip mall was added in 1963, and Building A — later home to Peninsula Cleaners — was constructed in 1986. Peninsula Cleaners operated a dry cleaning facility in tenant space A106 from approximately 1996 to 2012, using tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and other chlorinated solvents. A remedial investigation identified PCE and vinyl chloride in sub-slab soil vapor beneath the former dry cleaner; no contamination exceeded cleanup levels, and the site received No Further Action status under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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 1950 and have continued without interruption through multiple tenants and uses, with site ownership by Westgate Associates/Partners extending back to at least 1982. That operational timeline places the property squarely within the era of occurrence-based CGL policies, which had no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The environmental investigation and characterization costs incurred to address chlorinated solvent contamination beneath the former dry cleaner represent expenditures that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the site's pre-1986 operational decades may be obligated to cover.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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.