Exxon Escapes Paying $1B for Polluted Drinking Water

by Christopher Freeburn | February 27, 2013 10:15 am

[1]Some residents of Jacksonville, Maryland, won’t be getting a $1 billion jury award for punitive damages[2] from Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM[3]).

The verdict stemmed from the contamination of drinking water supplied to 160 homeowners due to a gasoline leak, Bloomberg noted. The oil giant argued that the 2011 jury award was excessive. A state appeals court agreed and ordered a new trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Additionally, the appeals court reverse the jury’s finding of fraud against Exxon Mobil. That, too, will be a question in the new trial.

The leak, which lasted 37 days, caused 26,000 gallons of gasoline to seep into groundwater in the rural Maryland community. The jury awarded residents $495 million in compensatory damages in addition to the punitive award.

In November, Exxon Mobil informed the Iraqi government that it would sell its interest[4] in the $50 billion West Qurna-1 oilfield, which currently produces 400,000 barrels of crude every day, to other oil companies.

Shares of Exxon Mobil rose fractionally in Wednesday morning trading.

Source URL: http://investorplace.com/2013/02/exxon-escapes-paying-1b-for-polluted-drinking-water/
Short URL: http://investorplace.com/?p=313500

---