This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1960. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could help fund the ongoing cleanup and groundwater monitoring obligations that Wisconsin DNR continues to oversee.

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.

Gasoline service station operations at this property — including fueling from pump islands supplied by underground storage tanks — ran from approximately 1960 through the 1980s, placing more than two decades of contamination-causing activity before 1986. The site investigation now underway, the groundwater remediation and free product recovery still ahead, and the long-term monitoring required under Wisconsin DNR LUST program oversight to address a benzene plume that has migrated beyond the property boundaries to adjacent parcels and the City of Kenosha right-of-way represent substantial future costs that 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.