Gasoline

A maintenance supervisor for Exxon Mobil Corp. said yesterday in Baltimore County Circuit Court that he did not know how to operate a device that should have prevented a massive gasoline leak three years ago at a service station in Jacksonville. The underground leak dumped more than 26,000 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline into the groundwater that supplied the area's wells and ruined property values for some 300 homeowners, who are seeking at least $1 billion from the oil giant. The trial began in October, and the plaintiffs are still presenting their case to the jury.

Tumbling gasoline prices gave consumers more purchasing power last month, which led to a rise in real consumer spending even as personal income slips and Americans worry about their jobs in a rapidly weakening economy. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that consumer spending, when adjusted for inflation, rose 0.6 percent in November, its largest gain in two years. The increase followed a 0.5 percent decline in October. And while the unadjusted rate of consumer spending declined 0.6 percent in November, on the heels of a 1 percent drop in October, economists suggested that the relative increase in spending was a rare piece of good news for the faltering economy.

After nearly two years of negotiation with Amtrak, the Maryland Transit Administration happily added evening MARC commuter train service between Baltimore and Washington one year ago. With high gasoline prices, the rail line had lured record numbers of new customers, and the expansion offered two additional round-trips' worth of relief to standing-room-only crowds. This month, officials announced they will temporarily suspend the new service beginning in January - not from a lack of riders but from a lack of money.

An Iowa-based research center is looking for 450 Baltimore-area motorists willing to have their every driving move tracked by satellite to test a system that could theoretically replace the federal gasoline tax with road use fees. The federally funded study will use a global positioning system satellite to track not only the mileage driven over eight months, but also whether each road traveled is funded by the state, federal or local governments. Participants will receive a simulated bill each month for the road use fee owed to each level of government.

A throng of plaintiffs packed a Towson courtroom yesterday, overflowing into a hallway, to hear the lawyer they had hired make the case that their neighborhood was ruined and their health endangered by the leak from a gas station of thousands of gallons of gasoline. "This is a leak that should not have happened," Stephen L. Snyder, whose firm is representing 300 residents of Jacksonville, said in Baltimore County Circuit Court during opening statements in a trial in which the plaintiffs are collectively seeking $1 billion from Exxon Mobil Corp.

30-year mortgages lowest since February WASHINGTON : Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped sharply again this week, falling to the lowest level in seven months, as rates continue to decline after the government's takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac reported yesterday that its nationwide survey found 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages declined to 5.78 percent this week, down from 5.93 percent last week. It was the fifth consecutive weekly decline and pushed the 30-year mortgage to the lowest level since it stood at 5.72 percent the week of Feb. 14. The decreases have accelerated over the past two weeks since the government announced on Sept.

As gas wholesalers and Baltimore-area service stations continue to deal with the fallout caused by Hurricane Ike, consumers were faced yesterday with widely ranging prices as they filled up their tanks, from $4.15 at one location in Govans to $3.57 at another stop in Baltimore. Industry analysts say the wide range in pump prices can likely be attributed to problems caused by a temporary shutdown of a major fuel pipeline, which might have affected some companies more than others. The average price of a gallon of gas in Maryland shot up 17 cents over the weekend, to $3.69 as of yesterday, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Hurricane Ike unleashed its fury at gas pumps yesterday, with prices surging even as crude oil dropped to a five-month low of less than $100 a barrel. The hurricane shuttered refineries located around the Gulf of Mexico, limiting the availability of gasoline. That drove prices for gasoline upward. But without refineries to process crude oil into gasoline, demand for oil fell. The falling demand, coupled with relief from initial reports that drilling in the Gulf appeared to survive Ike relatively unscathed, helped bring crude oil prices to their lows during a special trading session yesterday.

As gas prices hovered around $4 a gallon for most of this summer, Maryland's drivers made tough choices. They switched from SUVs to sedans, limited road trips and even got on their bikes. The number of miles driven by vehicles in Maryland during June dropped by nearly 5 percent, compared with a year ago, according to federal highway statistics. Gas prices have fallen, too, and unless a hurricane devastates Gulf Coast oil fields or some other event shakes up the world oil supply, prices may remain at their current average of $3.63 a gallon for a while, nearly a dollar more than Marylanders paid last year.

Gas prices. Gas prices. Gas prices. Is that all you and your friends are talking about? Now you can take it online. Fuelly.com, a Web site launched last month, allows drivers to track their gas mileage and compare the results not only with their friends, but with people worldwide. After three weeks, 5,932 people had joined the site, which is free, to follow the performance of nearly 7,000 vehicles. People all over the country are filling up their Fords, Mazdas, Pontiacs and Jeeps and then logging on to Fuelly to record the amount of gas they pumped into the car, how much it cost and how many miles they drove since their last trip to the gas station.