This property has a documented history as a facility using PFAS-containing firefighting foam going back to 1942. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Fairchild Air Force Base has been in operation since 1942, with fire training activities at sites on the installation — including FT032 and others such as FT004 — conducted from the 1950s and 1960s forward. The base's environmental cleanup program, initiated in 1975, has involved excavation of 540 cubic yards of contaminated soil, groundwater treatment through air sparging, in-situ chemical oxidation, bioreactors, and point-of-entry treatment systems targeting PFAS, as well as soil vapor extraction treatability testing and monitored natural attenuation across multiple operable units. The site has reached No Further Action status under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, with five-year reviews and ongoing monitoring continuing. 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.
PFAS contamination at Fairchild AFB is linked to the use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) at fire training areas that were active well before 1986, the threshold year after which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures here — spanning decades of soil removal, multiple parallel groundwater treatment technologies, and long-term monitoring under a formal multi-operable-unit program — represent exactly the category of cleanup costs that pre-1986 CGL carriers may remain obligated to address where their policies were in force during the AFFF operational period.
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.
