This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation going back to 1947. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property hosted agricultural aerial spraying operations from 1947 through 1987 — first as Inland Air Service and then as WenAirCo — with pesticide and herbicide contamination resulting from incidental spills during tank loading and rinsing operations at the site. Remediation efforts under the Voluntary Cleanup Program began with a multi-year nitrogen fertilizer soil treatment from 1990 to 1998, which proved unsuccessful, and concluded with the excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 150 cubic yards of contaminated soil in February 2001. The site has since received a No Further Action determination. 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.
Agricultural spraying operations at this property spanned four decades before 1986, with pesticide and herbicide releases accumulating throughout that window — the type of slow, recurring contamination that occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued before 1986 were designed to address. Carriers who wrote policies for Inland Air Service or WenAirCo during those operational years had no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and may remain obligated to fund the documented remediation expenditures — years of soil treatment, excavation, and off-site disposal — tied directly to those pre-1986 releases.
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.
