Exxon Trial Gets Underway

It was announced last Tuesday that ExxonMobil Corp. would be going to court in a billion-dollar lawsuit against them. The company reportedly chose its bottom line over the well-being and safety of the Maryland community and as a result, may have to pay a hefty price.

Faulty equipment from Exxon’s site allowed for a leak from a damaged fuel line in 2006 for more than a month. As a result, 25,000 gallons of contaminated wells, including deadly toxins like benzene, were emitted putting hundreds of locals at risk.

Exxon Under Fire for Benzene Exposure

“Exxon was on notice it had problems with the line leak detector … and they did nothing. It’s not like they didn’t have the economic wherewithal to do something,” Stephen L. Snyder Snyder told jurors in his opening statement in Baltimore County Circuit Court. “This was a corporation that knowingly or deliberately left in an unreliable piece of equipment.”

According to reports, an estimated 150 observers, many of them plaintiffs, packed the Jacksonville courthouse nearly an hour before the trail began. Snyder stands to represent them all and has supposedly asked all of them not to speak to reporters regarding the trial.

Company Accused of Breaking the Law

The documents which Snyder as presented to the jury thus far reportedly detail how Exxon knowingly went against the law and the good of the people, acting with negligence. As early as 1998, Exxon officials reportedly knew that the line leak detectors were outdated which could make for potential problems, though they failed to do anything.