"LITTLETON, New Hampshire -- A New Hampshire jury on Tuesday found Exxon Mobil Corp liable for $236.4 million in a civil lawsuit that charged the oil company had polluted groundwater in the state with a gasoline additive used to reduce smog in the 1970s and 1980s."
"Following a three-month trial, jurors deliberated less than two hours before finding that the world's largest publicly traded oil company acted negligently in contaminating the groundwater with the additive MTBE, said Jessica Grant, a lawyer who represented the state. ...
Originally filed in New Hampshire court in 2003, the state charged that Exxon and other major oil companies knew that MTBE was likely to contaminate groundwater and was more difficult to clean up than other pollutants. Some damages from the suit will help pay for the costs of testing and cleaning affected water supplies.
Exxon vowed to appeal."
Jason McLure reports for Reuters April 9, 2013.
