This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation going back to 1961. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Midstate Aviation has operated as an aerial pesticide application service at this Ellensburg site since 1961, performing crop-dusting operations and handling pesticides and herbicides including DDT, Dinoseb, Simazine, and Atrazine. Incidental spills and releases during aircraft tank loading and rinsing contaminated both soil and groundwater over decades of operation. Remediation included excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 2,000 cubic yards of pesticide-contaminated soil, a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, and groundwater monitoring conducted from at least 1994 onward, with initial state-administered cleanup costs exceeding $54,000. The site 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.
Aerial pesticide application operations at this property began in 1961 — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies routinely lacked effective pollution exclusions. The contamination here arose from repeated pesticide mixing, aircraft tank loading, and rinsing practices spanning those pre-1986 operational years, the kind of slow, diffuse release that occurrence-based CGL policies were written to address. The documented remediation costs — thousands of cubic yards of excavated soil, a multi-year RI/FS, and ongoing groundwater monitoring — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during that operational window may still be obligated to recover.
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.
