Key witness in Exxon case defends leak detector in Baltimore County

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jan 21, 2009 by Danny Jacobs

Joseph V. Mocsary ended his seventh and final day on the witness stand in Jacksonville residents' billion-dollar lawsuit against ExxonMobil Corp. the way he began: defending the reliability of the line leak detector model residents claim did not detect a more than 25,000-gallon gasoline spill three years ago.

"I didn't see any indication that the leak detectors weren't working," said Mocsary, the maintenance and repair coordinator for hundreds of gas stations in the mid-Atlantic, including the one in Jacksonville where a leak went unnoticed for 37 days beginning in January 2006.

On cross-examination in Baltimore County Circuit Court, Mocsary spent much of Tuesday reviewing documents he had previously discussed during his testimony. Concerns about the detector he expressed in e-mails as early as 2002 were related only to compliance testing problems and the availability of replacement parts, he said.

"Were you fussing about the ability or reliability of [the detector] to detect catastrophic leaks?" James F. Sanders, Exxon's lead counsel, asked.

"Absolutely not," Mocsary replied.

Sanders displayed documents showing the detector's alarm sounded at least four times in late 2005 because tanks were low on fuel, which Mocsary said the detector was supposed to do and therefore demonstrated it was working properly.

A newer detector was available for the Jacksonville station in October 2005 but was not installed by Exxon for budget reasons. Mocsary, under re-direct examination by Stephen L. Snyder, said in retrospect he wished the newer model was installed because he anticipated being asked questions about his e-mails discussing compliance testing and parts replacement problems for the older model.

Snyder, the plaintiff's lead counsel, repeated his description of Exxon's decision not to install the newer model as "shameful, unconscionable and disgraceful."

"You all protected the mighty dollar to the detriment of people's safety," said Snyder, of Snyder, Weltchek & Snyder in Pikesville.

Snyder also asked Mocsary why monitoring wells were placed around the Jacksonville station in August 2005 and were found to have signs of contamination. Mocsary said he did not know but that there could have been other sources of contamination, including excess fuel from lawnmowers.

Mocsary's testimony concluded without any discussion about Exxon's lawyers providing recently discovered documents last week to the residents' lawyers.

Sanders had apologized in court Friday for not finding and providing the documents earlier, but said much of the information in them was available in documents previously given to Snyder's firm. No discovery sanctions were requested by Snyder or ordered by Judge Maurice W. Baldwin Jr. on Friday.

The plaintiffs' last witness, an economist, is scheduled to continue his testimony Wednesday.