Contractor in ExxonMobil lawsuit had issues with leak detector

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Lawyers on both sides of a billion-dollar lawsuit in Baltimore County stemming from a massive 2006 gas leak at a Jacksonville Exxon station focused Thursday on why the leak went undetected for five weeks.

One of the principal issues in the case was debated through the testimony of David Schanberger, service manager of Alger Electric Inc., the Pikesville subcontractor whose technicians were responsible for maintaining the station’s line leak detectors at the station.

A line leak detector, required by law, alerts a gas station operator when a leak of more than 3 gallons an hour is occurring.

Stephen L. Snyder, whose firm of Snyder, Weltchek & Snyder in Pikesville is representing more than 300 residents, said previously Exxon knew the station’s detector was faulty and outdated but chose not to replace it in order to save money.

Lawyers for ExxonMobil Corp., however, have said the alarm properly sounded 10 times following the January 2006 drilling accident that caused the leak, and that Alger Electric improperly recalibrated the detector, allowing the leak to continue unbeknownst to Exxon until 25,000 gallons were spilled.

On Thursday, Schanberger testified technicians went to the site in mid-January after an alarm went off because of a reported “overflowing” gas tank. The technicians did not observe a leak and believed the alarm went off nine more times because of the work they were doing, Schanberger said.

“We’ve always had issues with the alarms,” he said.

Thomas H. Dundon, one of Exxon’s Tennessee-based lawyers, said during his cross-examination that none of the technicians at the scene was certified to work on that specific detector, and that the detector only indicates when fuel pressure is falling, not whether or not there is leak.

Schanberger’s testimony concluded Thursday afternoon.

Another group of residents is scheduled to testify throughout next week.