Attorney General Ex Rel. Department of Environmental Quality v. Bulk Petroleum Corp.

Defendants appeal as of right the trial court’s order denying their motion for the reduction of a $1,090,000 penalty and granting plaintiff’s motion for additional penalties of $1,418,900. We affirm.

I. FACTS

In 1986, defendants acquired the former Bulk Station 3612, a retail gas station, located at 2020 North US-23 in Hartland, Michigan, from Chevron, Inc. The property had five underground storage tanks that leaked petroleum from approximately 1986 to 1999. The problem was not corrected, and in 1993 the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the predecessor of the Department of Environment…