This property has a documented history as a facility using PFAS-containing firefighting foam going back to 1949. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

AFFF storage and use at this Navy facility began at least a decade before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The PFAS contamination now documented in groundwater is the kind of slow, cumulative release that those pre-1986 policies were designed to cover. As investigation advances toward remediation, the cleanup costs the property faces — remedial investigation, feasibility study, and eventual PFAS treatment — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force when AFFF was first stored and used at the site.

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.