Mon Oct 19, 2009 3:07pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal jury in New York City ruled Exxon Mobil Corp had polluted the city’s ground water and ordered the oil giant to pay $105 million in damages, the city said in a statement on Monday.
The city contended Exxon knew that gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether would contaminate ground water if it leaked from the underground storage tanks at its retail stations.
Exxon ignored warnings from its own scientists and engineers not to use MTBE in areas of the country that relied on ground water for drinking water, the city said.
MTBE is an oxygenate that is added to gasoline to increase its octane level and reduce air pollution, but it has largely been phased out of the U.S. fuel supply because of the dangers to ground water.
The $105 million verdict represents less than 3 percent of Exxon’s second-quarter profit of $3.95 billion.
Royal Dutch Shell, BP Plc, Chevron Corp, Citgo Petroleum Corp, Hess Corp and Sunoco Inc have previously settled claims against them for a total of $15 million, the city said.
Irving, Texas-based Exxon said it was disappointed with the decision and would consider its legal options. The company said during the trial that its service stations were not the cause of the contamination.
“We do not believe we should be required to compensate the City of New York for someone else’s contamination,” company spokesman Kevin Allexon said in an email.
Shares of Exxon Mobil rose 1.1 percent, or 82 cents, to $73.94 on the New York Stock Exchange at mid-afternoon.
(Reporting by Matt Daily; Editing by Richard Chang and Steve Orlofsky)
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This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
