This property has a documented history as an industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could help fund the ongoing and future cleanup under Oregon DEQ oversight.
This industrial property in Jackson County operates as a helicopter manufacturing and maintenance facility, where chlorinated solvent use contaminated groundwater with PCE (up to 575 ppb), TCE, TCA, cis-1,2-DCE, and chlorobenzene — with the plume extending offsite to contaminate residential drinking water wells northeast of the facility. Oregon DEQ entered a Consent Order with the responsible party in 1996, followed by a Record of Decision in 2001, and a funnel-and-gate passive treatment system using zero-valent iron has been operating since 1998. Despite more than two decades of treatment, the 2025 Performance Evaluation Report confirms that VOCs remain above Risk-Based Concentration Levels at multiple monitoring wells, an easement and equitable servitude restricts groundwater use on the property, and continued treatment and monitoring are required through at least 2030. That history could support an insurance coverage claim against the carriers who issued policies more than 40 years ago — coverage that could help fund the cleanup ahead.
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 Oregon — and those policies may provide coverage that remains enforceable today. 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.
Prolonged chlorinated solvent use at this helicopter manufacturing facility contaminated groundwater with PCE, TCE, and related compounds — a plume extending offsite to residential drinking water wells northeast of the property — with contaminating operations originating well before 1986. The ongoing costs of operating the funnel-and-gate treatment system, maintaining the easement and equitable servitude restricting groundwater use, and conducting the long-term monitoring that Oregon DEQ's Record of Decision requires through at least 2030 are substantial future obligations that historical pre-1986 carriers may be obligated to fund.
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.
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
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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.