This property has a documented history as a facility using PFAS-containing firefighting foam going back to 1906. 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.

Contamination at this property originates from industrial and fire-training operations spanning multiple decades before 1986 — transformer oil deliveries from the 1950s through 1980, underground storage tanks operated throughout that same era, and Boeing's fire drill training at the adjacent field beginning in 1961. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators during those years had no effective pollution exclusion, and the slow, undiscovered releases associated with fire-training foam and transformer oil are precisely the type of contamination those policies were written to address. The documented remediation costs here — soil excavations, tank removals, sediment cleanup in Slip 4, and continuing stormwater treatment — represent expenditures that historical carriers with policies in force during that operational window may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.