This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Pangborn Memorial Airport has been owned by Douglas and Chelan Counties and operated as the primary regional airport for the Wenatchee area since before 1972, when an underground storage tank dispensing aviation gasoline was already in documented use. From 1968 through 1983, Columbia Skyways ran a commercial pesticide application business on the airfield, leaving behind a pesticide handling area that was paved with asphalt in 1987 to prevent further soil infiltration. Cleanup activities included removal of a 1,000-gallon UST in 1992 and two 500-gallon USTs in 1994; soil sampling during those removals also detected lead, consistent with decades of leaded aviation gasoline use. The site has since reached No Further Action status. 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.
This site involves two distinct pre-1986 operations — Columbia Skyways' pesticide business (1968–1983) and the county airport authority's aviation fuel storage and dispensing, both active during the era when occurrence-based CGL policies were standard — each of which would have carried its own liability coverage program. The documented remediation costs here: UST removals, pesticide-area encapsulation, and soil investigation, address contamination tied directly to those named operators and their pre-1986 activities. Historical carriers who insured Columbia Skyways or Douglas and Chelan Counties during that operational window may still bear residual obligations for a share of those expenditures.
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.
