This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1966. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has served as the Alaska Airlines maintenance hangar area since at least 1966, supporting industrial-scale aircraft maintenance, fuel storage and dispensing, and anti-icing fluid handling at Sea-Tac Airport. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation of contaminated soil to seven feet, removal of former underground storage tanks, and extensive groundwater monitoring for glycol contamination conducted from 1995 through 2002. Independent remedial actions addressed multiple areas across the site, and the property has 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.
Contamination at this site — diesel- and gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons, jet fuel, and ethylene glycol — originated from fueling, maintenance, and de-icing operations that began two decades before 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removal, deep soil excavation, and seven years of groundwater monitoring — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers who covered these operations may still be obligated to reimburse.
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.
