This property has a documented history as a facility using PFAS-containing firefighting foam going back to 1974. 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.

Aircraft firefighting training operations at this site began in 1974 — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still covered pollution claims without effective exclusion. The PFAS and petroleum contamination now under investigation traces to those decades of live-fire training exercises using JP-4 jet fuel at this property. The cleanup costs the property's stakeholders will face — groundwater investigation, monitoring well installation, and eventual remediation — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose CGL policies were in effect during the pre-1986 operational window when these releases first occurred.

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.