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 with a history extending back to at least the early 1990s, with evidence of leaded and unleaded gasoline operations consistent with pre-1986 fueling activity. Petroleum contamination is extensive — benzene has been detected in groundwater at concentrations nearly 3,800 times the Wisconsin DNR enforcement standard, and free product has been recovered from multiple wells, with approximately 69,700 gallons of product-water mixture removed over fifteen pumping events. Petroleum vapor intrusion has been confirmed at three off-site properties, including a commercial building and two residences, where vapor mitigation systems have been installed to address indoor air exceedances. The site remains an active Wisconsin DNR LUST program case with ongoing investigation and remediation. 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 operations at this property, including the dispensing of leaded gasoline — a product phased out beginning in the 1970s — were under way before 1986, the period during which petroleum was released into the soil and groundwater now requiring remediation. The continued free-product recovery, groundwater treatment, vapor-intrusion mitigation at neighboring residences and commercial buildings, and long-term monitoring necessary to achieve Wisconsin DNR LUST program closure represent substantial future costs that the pre-1986 insurance carriers for the businesses that operated here 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.