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 served as a gasoline service station with underground storage tanks for decades before 1986, with four 5,000-gallon USTs already replaced before a 1998 investigation — consistent with original tank installations dating to the 1960s or 1970s. Leaded gasoline, a product phased out through the 1980s, has been identified as a contaminant, and a 2022 Phase II Environmental Site Assessment confirmed benzene in groundwater at 48 times the Wisconsin NR 140 enforcement standard. Petroleum-contaminated groundwater has migrated beneath State Highway 150, prompting right-of-way notification to the Town of Clayton, and a deed restriction has been recorded for residual groundwater contamination and cap maintenance. 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.
Underground storage tanks at this property were installed and operated as a gasoline service station from as early as the 1960s, dispensing leaded gasoline and releasing petroleum products into soil and groundwater throughout decades of operations that preceded 1986. The future costs of continued groundwater investigation, semi-annual monitoring, remediation needed to reduce benzene concentrations that remain at 48 times the Wisconsin NR 140 enforcement standard, and ongoing compliance with the recorded deed restriction and WDNR requirements represent obligations that insurance carriers for 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.