This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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.
This property operated as a gasoline service station and automotive service garage, with underground storage tanks and a shop area with floor drains consistent with decades of fueling and vehicle maintenance activity. A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment confirmed severe groundwater contamination, including benzene at 200 ppb — forty times the Wisconsin NR 140 enforcement standard — along with elevated levels of ethylbenzene, toluene, total xylenes, trimethylbenzenes, naphthalene, and 1,2-dichloroethane. Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) was also detected in multiple monitoring wells above preventive action limits, suggesting historical solvent or degreasing use consistent with older automotive service operations. The site remains an active Wisconsin DNR LUST program case with investigation continuing. 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.
Gasoline fueling, underground storage tank operations, and automotive service activity — including vehicle maintenance and solvent-based degreasing — were conducted at this property for decades before 1986. The severe groundwater contamination now documented across multiple monitoring wells, including benzene at forty times the Wisconsin NR 140 enforcement standard and tetrachloroethylene detections indicating historical solvent use, will require substantial ongoing investigation, remediation, vapor intrusion assessment, and long-term monitoring under the Wisconsin DNR LUST program — future costs that 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
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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.