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Property owner sues three insurers to recoup environmental cleanup costs
The lawsuit says an environmental assessment found heavy metals in soil and PAH compounds in groundwater, and the owner has spent $235,683.63 on investigation and remediation.
A property owner is suing a Wisconsin city and three insurers to recover environmental cleanup costs it says stem from contamination the complaint traces back decades, Insurance Business reports.
Fox Investments LLC filed the complaint on July 23, 2026, in US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, naming the City of Kaukauna, Sentry, Travelers Indemnity Company, and Employers Insurance Company of Wausau. Fox also includes a fictitious “ABC Insurance Company” placeholder for any additional carrier not yet identified.
According to the filing, Fox owned or partially owned the property at 400 Fox Shores Drive from about February 1998 to January 2020, when Fox operated an apartment complex. The complaint alleges the city owned and operated the site from 1967 to 1974, describing it as part of a former railyard, and says city burning of structures beginning in November 1974 spread contamination.
Fox says contamination was identified in 2018, when a lender’s Phase II Environmental Site Assessment found heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, lead, selenium, and mercury in soil, along with PAH constituents in groundwater, at levels the filing says exceeded state standards. The complaint states the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources later named Fox a responsible party and directed it to investigate and remediate, and that the DNR closed the site on May 10, 2022, after Fox incurred $235,683.63 in costs, Insurance Business reported. For the insurers, Fox brings direct claims under Wisconsin’s direct-action statute, seeking recovery based on coverage it alleges the carriers provided to the city during its ownership.