This property has a documented history as an industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. 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 formerly operated as an asphalt manufacturing and aggregate mining facility, with a shallow asphaltic horizon embedded in the upper two to two-and-a-half feet of soil across approximately 20,000 square feet of the site. Groundwater sampling has confirmed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exceeding Wisconsin DNR NR 140 Enforcement Standards — including benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and chrysene — along with free product observed at the groundwater interface. Benzene has also been detected above soil-to-groundwater pathway thresholds, and potable well sampling has been conducted at a neighboring residential property as part of the ongoing Environmental Remediation Program investigation. 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.
Asphalt manufacturing and aggregate mining operations at this property took place over decades before 1986, producing contamination — including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exceeding NR 140 Enforcement Standards and free product observed at the groundwater interface — that remains embedded across approximately 20,000 square feet of the upper soil column and has migrated into groundwater. The work still ahead under the Wisconsin DNR Environmental Remediation Program — large-area excavation, free-product recovery, groundwater remediation, and ongoing residential well monitoring — represents substantial future costs that the commercial general liability carriers insuring the businesses that operated here before 1986 may be obligated 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.