Exxon Defends Itself Against Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit In Balt. Co.
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- While an environmental disaster continues to be cleaned up in Baltimore County, those affected are battling it out in court in Towson.
Mike Schuh reports Exxon has now begun to defend itself against a lawsuit that could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.
Seven women and three men come to Towson every day to sit in a jury box, trying to make sense of the environmental disaster which happened in Jacksonville five years ago. In the past 16 weeks, attorneys have given them reasons why Exxon should pay hundreds of millions of dollars to 250 homeowners near an Exxon station in the center of Jacksonville.
The leak happened in 2006. Workers drilled through a pipe and for a month, 26,000 gallons of gas was pumped into the ground...gas that found its way to the area's drinking water.
This is the second trial against Exxon. They lost the first and now that $150 million verdict is on appeal. In this trial, Exxon's story has changed. Previously, they told the court their monitoring equipment, run by outside contractors, was faulty and they didn't know gas was being lost.
But now an Exxon manager has revealed that the equipment was fine and they knew only two events would cause an alarm like the one they heard that first day: they were out of gas or there was a leak. They ignored that alarm.
An Exxon manager said the leak detectors were then reprogrammed not to set off any more alarms. Meantime, 700 gallons a day went into the groundwater, leaving those living there livid.
Tuesday, the attorney for the residents said neither he nor his clients could talk about the trial.
The Exxon lawyer also confirmed the judge had thrown a gag order over the proceedings, prohibiting anyone with the case from talking about it outside of court.
The judge has told Exxon they need to wrap it up by the end of June.
Even when this trial ends, nearly 400 additional homeowners in that area have lined up to sue Exxon for damages relating to that spill.
