Hudson v. Peavey Oil Co.

This is an action for damages for trespass. Defendant appeals from a judgment for plaintiffs, entered after a jury verdict awarding plaintiffs both compensatory and punitive damages. Consistent with the jury’s verdict, we will summarize the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs.

Defendant owns and operates a service station next door to property owned by the plaintiffs in Tigard. In January, 1975, it was discovered that one of defendant’s underground gasoline storage tanks was leaking and that gasoline was seeping underground onto plaintiff’s property. The jury could have found…