This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1917. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property is the US Army's Fort Lewis installation — now Joint Base Lewis-McChord — established as Camp Lewis in 1917, redesignated Fort Lewis in 1927, and in continuous military operation ever since. Cleanup activities across the installation's multiple contaminated sub-sites have included groundwater pump-and-treat systems, in situ sparging, soil excavation with low-temperature thermal desorption, Soil Vapor Extraction systems, long-term groundwater monitoring, and installation of new monitoring wells. Land Use Controls including cap maintenance and access restrictions remain in place across multiple sub-areas as ongoing remediation, and the installation has reached a No Further Action determination under Washington's Standard Cleanup program. 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.
Fort Lewis has operated as an active military installation for over a century, with the American Lake Garden Tract sub-site listed on the National Priorities List in October 1984 — a formal federal recognition of contamination that predates the 1986 threshold by which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The documented remediation program here spans multiple treatment technologies and sub-sites: pump-and-treat groundwater systems, vapor extraction, thermal treatment of soils, and decades of monitoring — all expenditures tied directly to operations conducted throughout the era of pre-1986 CGL coverage. Historical carriers who issued policies during those operational decades may be obligated to recover costs already incurred.
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.
