This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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.

The organochlorine pesticides detected in soil at this hangar are a marker of pre-1986 operations: most organochlorine compounds were phased out or banned in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s, anchoring the contamination's origin in the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Each of the multiple operators who held hangar leases during that window may have had CGL policies in force at the time the contamination was generated. Those historical policies remain potentially enforceable against the remediation costs incurred under the Voluntary Cleanup Program.

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.