MDE Orders ExxonMobil to Resume Bottled Water Delivery to Families

MDE orders ExxonMobil to resume bottled water delivery to families
Posted: 3:58 pm Fri, March 12, 2010
By Danny Jacobs
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

The Maryland Department of the Environment has told ExxonMobil Corp. to resume delivery of bottled water to Jacksonville families affected by a 2006 gas station leak, according to Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith.

The decision comes less than a month after Exxon informed 126 homes and businesses it had received permission from MDE to stop the deliveries. The agency also permitted Exxon to test half as many drinking wells as part of its remediation efforts connected to the 25,000-plus-gallon gas leak.

Exxon’s MDE-approved actions drew protests from residents, lawyers representing them in civil lawsuits against the company and Gov. Martin O’Malley, who earlier this month asked MDE to revisit its decision.

The department has appointed an independent review team that will issue a report by the end of April, according to Smith.

The county executive announced the decision as part of an e-mailed statement, but MDE could not immediately confirm the information.

“The simple fact is that people in Jacksonville deserve to know for certain that the drinking water from their wells is safe long-term; and until that can be definitively known, it is only right that the company provide them with bottled water,” Smith said.

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