This property has a documented history as a facility using PFAS-containing firefighting foam going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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.

Fire training exercises at this site occurred on unprotected ground for years before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies covered pollution liability without the exclusions that became standard after that year. The combination of firefighting foam use, waste oils, and petroleum fuels burned at a long-running Air National Guard and airport training facility ties the contamination origin directly to that pre-1986 policy window. The investigation, remediation design, and cleanup expenditures that now lie ahead are precisely the costs that historical carriers whose policies were in force during those decades of fire training activity 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.