This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1942. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
Fuel Farm 1 at the NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base stored and dispensed aviation fuel from 1942 through 1999. Investigations documented extensive petroleum contamination in soil and groundwater, with total petroleum hydrocarbons measured at concentrations up to 34,000 µg/L and benzene up to 3,700 µg/L — both far exceeding cleanup levels — and free product recovered from multiple monitoring wells. Groundwater at the site discharges to Crescent Harbor, a marine environment. Active groundwater monitoring and free product recovery are ongoing components of the selected remedy. 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.
Fuel storage operations at this site began in 1942, more than four decades before the 1986 shift from occurrence-based to claims-made Commercial General Liability policies. The petroleum releases documented here — benzene, ethylbenzene, and free-phase fuel product in groundwater — are the type of gradual, long-duration contamination that occurrence-based CGL policies were designed to cover. With the selected remedy calling for continued monitoring and free product recovery, the cleanup expenditures ahead of this property could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades of fuel farm operations.
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 & 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.