Jacksonville

For the past five months, spectators in a Baltimore County courtroom watched as dozens of families who live near a Jacksonville service station that leaked thousands of gallons of gasoline into the community's groundwater made their case against Exxon Mobil Corp. One especially interested onlooker at the trial, which concluded Thursday with a jury awarding $150 million to the plaintiffs, was attorney Theodore M. Flerlage Jr. "It's always interesting to see how another firm addresses a situation," said Flerlage, who is with the Peter G. Angelos law firm.

After a 19-week trial, a lawsuit brought against Exxon Mobil Corp. by 300 Jacksonville residents went to the jury yesterday. At stake are potential compensatory and punitive damages worth "several billion dollars," said plaintiffs' attorney Stephen L. Snyder, whose team received a standing ovation from the crowded courtroom after the jury had filed out. Snyder had argued that the 26,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline that seeped into the groundwater from...

Jacksonville residents are justifiably distressed about a 26,000-gallon gasoline leak that seeped into the groundwater supplying area wells, but their fears about lingering contamination and possible health risks are unsubstantiated, a defense attorney representing Exxon Mobil Corp. said yesterday during his closing arguments in Baltimore County Circuit Court. The 300 or so plaintiffs suing the oil company contend that their physical and emotional health were damaged, along with property values, because of the spill three years ago at an Exxon service station in Jacksonville.

The e-mail message was written in February 2007, a year after an underground leak at an Exxon gas station in northern Baltimore County fouled wells and hammered property values. After cleanup efforts are completed, "no one will remember Phoenix," the message said, referring to the address of the Jacksonville area where the spill occurred. "Just another notch in the tree of life." Written by an Exxon Mobil Corp. project manager to a colleague, the text was enlarged and projected onto a screen in a Towson courtroom yesterday by Stephen L. Snyder, a lawyer for 309 residents who are suing the oil company for at least $1 billion in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

J ohn Harbaugh didn't know where to begin in talking about his team's turnaround from a year ago after the 11-5 Ravens clinched a playoff spot yesterday with a 27-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. But there are three major reasons. The biggest difference from a year ago is Harbaugh, who replaced Brian Billick as coach after a 5-11 season. Harbaugh put together a quality coaching staff, and the final piece was the development of rookie Joe Flacco, the franchise-changing quarterback that this team has coveted for so long.

THREE THINGS THAT NEED TO GO RIGHT ... 1 Take an early lead. In the Jaguars' past two road losses, they fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter at Houston and trailed 20-3 at halftime at Chicago. Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard has thrown nine of his 11 interceptions this season when trailing in the game. 2 Attack through the air. Jacksonville has given up 25 passing touchdowns, the third-most in the NFL. Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco hasn't thrown for multiple touchdowns in his past three games.

MURLE JACKSON FAUBER, age 79 passed away July 27, 2008 at her residence. Retired GySgt. from the United States Marine Corp. after 23 years and having served in the Korean Conflict and Vietnam, receiving the Purple Heart. After retirement Mr. Fauber was employed with Weyerhauser. Survived by wife Florence S. Fauber of Jacksonville. Daughter Tammy Renae Bonnette and husband Mike of Jacksonville. Step-son Billy S. Murdock of Beaufort. Sister Phyliss Slaubach of Parsons, West Virginia. One grandson: James Michael Bonnette III. Special friend and caretaker Barbara King.

PITTSBURGH -- Faced with one of the biggest flops in NFL history, the Jacksonville Jaguars found a way to escape just as quarterback David Garrard did all last night. After squandering an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars fought back with a late comeback of their own to edge the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-29, in a wild AFC wild-card game at Heinz Field. Garrard, the Jaguars' thick 245-pound leader, carried the team in the end, scrambling for 32 yards to convert a fourth-and-two and set up the game-winning field goal.

New Orleans at Indianapolis (-6), 8:30 p.m., chs. 11, 4 Sunday Philadelphia (-3) at Green Bay, 1 p.m., Ch. 45 Atlanta at Minnesota (-3), 1 p.m. Miami at Washington (-3), 1 p.m., Ch. 9 New England (-6 1/2 ) at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. Tennessee at Jacksonville (-6 1/2 ), 1 p.m. Denver (-3) at Buffalo, 1 p.m. Pittsburgh (-4 1/2 ) at Cleveland, 1 p.m., Ch. 13 Carolina at St. Louis (-1), 1 p.m. Kansas City at Houston (-3), 1 p.m. Tampa Bay at Seattle (-6), 4:15 p.m. Chicago at San Diego (-6), 4:15 p.m., chs. 45, 5 Detroit at Oakland (-1 1/2 )

When more than three tanker trucks' worth of gasoline leaked from an Exxon station, Jacksonville residents worried their wells would be contaminated. But a year and a half into the cleanup efforts, they fear not only having tainted water, but having no water at all. ExxonMobil Corp. is seeking permission from Maryland's Department of the Environment to pump up to 68,500 gallons of groundwater a day, in an attempt to contain the plume of dissolved gasoline, until the cleanup is complete.