This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1942. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Fairchild Air Force Base has operated continuously since its establishment in 1942, and Building 2024 served as a maintenance facility equipped with an oil-water separator (OW-063) that processed petroleum waste from base operations. Groundwater investigations identified metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and petroleum compounds including diesel-range hydrocarbons beneath the site; remediation brought concentrations below MTCA cleanup levels by the time of the 2018 investigation. The oil-water separator was removed in 2012, and the Washington Department of Ecology issued a No Further Action determination in 2019 under the Voluntary 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.
Fairchild AFB's maintenance operations at Building 2024 trace back to a base established in 1942 — more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard. The petroleum and metals contamination documented in groundwater at this site originated from infrastructure consistent with those decades of pre-1986 military maintenance operations. Historical CGL policies issued during that extended operational window may still respond to the remediation expenditures incurred to bring this site to its current No Further Action status.
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
Stay up to date on environmental property cleanup laws and changes.
Report Email Updates
Request more information on this property
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.