This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1894. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could help fund the multi-phase investigation and remediation work ahead under Wisconsin DNR oversight.
This property was developed before 1894 with a succession of commercial and industrial operations — including brewing, machine shop work, sheet metal fabrication, and printing — all of which were razed by the mid-1950s and replaced by an asphalt parking lot. Historical fill material containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals is pervasive across the site, and a kerosene underground storage tank was present and removed in 2008. Groundwater sampling has confirmed benzene concentrations ranging from 13.2 to 190 µg/L at one monitoring well — up to 38 times the Wisconsin NR 140 Enforcement Standard — along with PAHs including benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and chrysene above enforcement standards. The site is an active Wisconsin DNR Environmental Remediation Program case, with remedial action involving off-site disposal of impacted soil and installation of engineered barriers. That history could support an insurance coverage claim against the carriers who issued policies more than 40 years ago — coverage that could help fund the cleanup ahead.
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 Wisconsin — and those policies may provide coverage that remains enforceable today. 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.
All contaminating activity at this property — including decades of brewing, machine shop, sheet metal, and printing operations, the placement of industrial fill material, and the installation of an underground storage tank — occurred well before 1986, with the primary industrial uses dating from before 1894 through the mid-1950s. The ongoing and future cleanup work under the Wisconsin DNR Environmental Remediation Program — including off-site disposal of PAH- and metals-impacted soil, engineered barrier construction, continued groundwater monitoring for benzene and PAH concentrations that remain far above NR 140 Enforcement Standards, and the path to case closure — represents a substantial cost obligation that CGL carriers insuring the businesses that operated here before 1986 may be required to fund.
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.
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
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.