A jury awarded more than $150 million yesterday to the neighbors of a northern Baltimore County service station, finding Exxon Mobil Corp. liable for the damage caused when thousands of gallons of gasoline seeped into the groundwater from a leaking pipe.
The Baltimore County jury's verdict - delivered after five months of testimony and nearly two weeks of deliberations - directs the oil giant to compensate about 90 Jacksonville families for the lost value of their homes. It also requires Exxon to pay for cancer screenings, and it acknowledges the upheaval caused by the huge spill by awarding millions of dollars for emotional distress.
But the six-member panel stopped well short of the multibillion-dollar verdict sought by the plaintiff's lawyers. The four women and two men ruled that Exxon was not guilty of fraud and removed the possibility of assessing punitive damages.
In the end, many of the homeowners who had pressed the case said they had mixed feelings about the result.
Steven Tizard, whose Robcaste Road home sits behind the shuttered gas station, said he was disappointed that punitive damages were not awarded but pleased that the jury agrees "that our homes have no value." He hoped the case would make Exxon "put safety first." His family would receive $1 million in emotional damages, $700,000 for their property and about $290,000 for medical monitoring.
For its part, Exxon seemed to see the result as a partial victory. It said it was pleased the jury assessed the evidence in a way that absolved it of the fraud charge. But the company, which had apologized and accepted responsibility for the spill, suggested that the compensation ordered by the jury was a roundabout way of awarding punitive damages.
"[T]he compensatory damages should not be so high as to essentially be punitive instead of truly compensating for actual harm caused by the spill," the company said in a statement. "We find the amount awarded inconsistent with the verdict in which the jury rejected the punitive damages claims."
All the homeowners were given the full appraised value of their property, most in excess of $600,000. Mae DeDeo, 77, who has lived in her Sweet Air Road home since 1977, received $375,000, one of the lowest property awards. "It might be the value, but really, when I think of my children, more than 20 people have lost that house," she said.
