This property has a documented history as a facility using PFAS-containing firefighting foam going back to 1940. 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.

PFAS contamination at this airport property is consistent with historical use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), a firefighting agent standard at airports from the 1960s onward — decades before the 1986 threshold after which occurrence-based CGL policies began excluding pollution claims. The cleanup costs this site now faces — investigation, characterization, and eventual remediation of PFAS in soil and groundwater — could plausibly fall within the coverage obligations of historical carriers whose policies were in effect during the decades of AFFF use at the facility.

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.