KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? After more than three years of litigation, the last major lawsuit stemming from the deadly eruption of gas geysers in Hutchinson has been decided.

Wyandotte County jurors on Wednesday awarded $5 million — far less than the class-action lawsuit had sought — to Reno County residents who alleged the disaster devalued their property.

The conclusion of the case raises new questions about what will happen to the now-dormant underground storage facilities that leaked natural gas.

The gas was believed to have erupted from old brine wells beneath the city in January 2001, destroying two downtown stores and killing a couple at a mobile home park.

The series of lawsuits filed after the explosions alleged that the irresponsible actions of the field’s operator, Oklahoma energy company ONEOK Inc., its subsidiaries and past owners allowed the gas to leak from the Yaggy storage facility.

Attorneys had sought around $80 million for the property owners and $7 million to $8 million for business owners who claimed lost business. Nothing was awarded to the business owners.

Tulsa, Okla.-based ONEOK was found 80 percent at fault in the loss of property value, and subsidiary Mid Continent Market Center was found 20 percent at fault. Jurors decided Western Resources, which owned the storage field before ONEOK, was not at fault.

“In terms of our approach to this case and the damages claimed, we were quite pleased with the jury’s verdict,” said Chuck Lee, a Hutchinson lawyer who represented ONEOK and Mid Continent Market Center.

Jim Frickleton, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the verdict a mixed bag.

“On the one hand we are very pleased with a verdict for the class; on the other hand we are disappointed in the amount,” he said Thursday.

In addition to several smaller claims, three significant cases have been decided since the explosions.

The first case concluded in August 2002, when ONEOK, without admitting a link between the Yaggy field leak and the explosions, reached a confidential settlement with relatives of the couple killed at the Big Chief Mobile Home Park.

A jury in Sedgwick County District Court this year awarded owners of the two downtown businesses that were destroyed $1.7 million for their losses. Sedgwick County District Judge James Fleetwood added $5.25 million in punitive damages. That case has been appealed.

Days later, on April 13, Cargill Inc. settled with ONEOK and a subsidiary. Cargill had sued over the January 2001 shutdown of its Hutchinson salt plant in the days after the explosions.