This property has a documented history as a dry cleaning facility going back to 1945. 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.

This facility stored chlorinated dry cleaning solvents in underground tanks for roughly four decades before 1986 — the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began including effective pollution exclusions. The contamination now documented at this property, PCE and its breakdown products TCE and vinyl chloride spreading across a property boundary, is the type of slow subsurface release that pre-1986 occurrence policies were written to address. Historical carriers who issued CGL coverage during Draper's operational decades remain potentially obligated both to recover the remediation costs already incurred and to fund the ongoing investigation and cleanup the site still requires.

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.