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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


B & B ASSOCIATES, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v AMOCO OIL COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

UNPUBLISHED January 4, 2000

No. 208588 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 93-314569 CE

Before: Smolenski, P.J., and Whitbeck and Zahra, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals as of right from a judgment, following a bench trial, awarding plaintiff $250,000 in this private cost recovery action under the former Michigan Environmental Response Act (MERA), MCL 299.601 et seq.; MSA 13.32(1) et seq.1 Plaintiff cross-appeals, challenging the trial court's order granting defendant summary disposition on its claim for intentional interference with a contract. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings. Plaintiff filed the instant action alleging that defendant is liable for environmental remediation damages with respect to a parcel of property now owned by plaintiff and once owned by defendant. Defendant owned the property from 1967 until 1983 and, throughout its ownership, a gas station was operated on the property. The gas station contained underground storage tanks, piping associated with the tanks, and gasoline dispensers located on a pump island. In 1983, defendant sold the property to Dawn Donuts Systems, Inc., who, without conducting any business on the property, leased it back to defendant. In 1985, Dawn Donuts sold the property to plaintiff, who operated a restaurant on the property until 1990. As a result of environmental testing performed in 1990, in connection with a possible sale of the property, gasoline contamination was discovered in the former underground storage tank area and in the vicinity of the former pump island. On appeal, defendant first argues that the trial court erred in awarding plaintiff $250,000 to cover future costs for response activity (i.e., those costs not yet incurred), under

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Michigan Law