Jury awards $358 mln in Fluor lead poison case

* Award follows three-month trial

* $320 mln punitive, $38.5 mln compensatory damages

* Fluor plans to appeal

By Moira Herbst

NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A St. Louis jury awarded sixteen plaintiffs $358.5 million to compensate for injuries they claimed to have suffered when a smelter exposed them to dangerous amounts of lead.

Under the award Fluor Corp (FLR.N), Alpha Natural Resources Inc (ANR.N) and Doe Run Investment Holding Co would pay $320 million in punitive damages and $38.5 million to compensate the plaintiffs for health problems and lost lifetime earnings.

The jury's verdict on Friday followed a three-month trial in St. Louis Circuit Court.

"We're extremely disappointed in the verdict, and we plan to appeal," Fluor spokesman Brian Mershon said.

Representatives of Alpha Natural and Doe Run did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The plaintiffs, who range from 11 to 26 years old, claimed that emissions from the Herculaneum, Missouri-based smelter caused them to develop attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and lose IQ points. They alleged defendants knowingly exposed them to the neurotoxins from 1986 to 1994.

Jurors awarded punitive damages of $20 million for each plaintiff, with Fluor having to pay a total of $240 million, Alpha Natural $48 million and Doe Run $32 million. Individual compensatory awards ranged from $1.5 million to $3 million.

Alpha Natural bought A.T. Massey Coal, one of the original defendants in the case, in June.

"The jury heard the evidence and decided that this was no accident, but the result of an economic calculation," said Gerson Smoger, a Dallas-based partner of Smoger & Associates and lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. "Defendants never said, 'I'm sorry for poisoning your child.'"

The case is Alexander et al v. Fluor Corp et al, St. Louis Circuit Court 22, No. 22052-09567. (Reporting by Moira Herbst; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)