Awards for a lifetime of medical monitoring ranged from $5,000 to nearly $500,000, depending on the size of the family and age of its members. They will be checked annually for four types of cancer. MTBE, a gasoline additive, has been linked to cancer in lab animals.
"This was a strong victory for the plaintiffs," said their attorney, Stephen L. Snyder. "These families got 100 percent of their property values and the medical monitoring requested."
He reiterated Exxon's frequent request to residents to "tell us what we owe and we will pay," and said he hopes the company will not appeal the decision. "There is no reason for Exxon not to pay," he said.
The company said yesterday it is reviewing its legal options.
Snyder expressed disappointment that the jury did not find that Exxon acted in a fraudulent manner but admitted "showing intentional malice is an extremely uphill climb."
James F. Sanders, a lawyer for Exxon Mobil, said residents were justifiably distressed about the leak but that their fears about lingering contamination and possible health risks are unsubstantiated. He contended that the company did not knowingly use faulty detectors, which would have put employees, customers and neighbors at risk.
Exxon agreed last year to pay $4 million to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which officials said was the largest environmental penalty ever levied by the state. The company could face an annual $1 million penalty if it does not maintain a cleanup schedule. Exxon said yesterday it has spent more than $38 million for cleanup activities, an effort that could take a decade or longer to complete.
Cleanup continues around the closed station, with a total of 87 wells drilled throughout the area pumping water from the ground to remove any contaminants, according to a report filed last month with the state. Exxon Mobil succeeded in recovering nearly half of the lost gasoline in the weeks immediately after discovery of the underground pipe rupture. Recovering the remaining leaked fuel has been arduous because it is dissolved and dispersed in ground water or in vapor form in the soil. In the past three years, more than 45 million gallons of ground water have been pumped and treated, according to the report.
The Jacksonville residents brought the suit after more than 26,000 gallons of gasoline seeped into the groundwater from a leaking pipe in 2006. The equivalent of four tanker loads spread through the ground for more than five weeks before the leak was discovered.
