PORTLAND — A U.S. District court jury on Friday awarded a machinery painter $675,000 for injuries he had suffered when he fell into a drainage hole at the Boise Cascade paper mill in Rumford five years ago.

Mark Fowler of Rumford, now 32, injured his left leg in the Jan. 21, 1985, fall as he and a co-worker prepared to paint a paper-making machine, according to court documents.

Fowler’s lawyer, C. Donald Briggs III of Rockport, contended that a metal grate had been removed from the 3-foot hole.

Doctors testified that Briggs suffers from recurrent pain in his back and right leg and has “chronic pain syndrome,” a condition that affects people who have been in pain for a long time.

Boise Cascade conceded it had been negligent in not keeping the hole covered or barricaded, but argued that Fowler’s pain resulted from psychological factors unrelated to the fall. Boise lawyers also contended that Fowler’s negligence had contributed to his injury.

Fowler, who has been unemployed since the accident and who walks with a cane, was awarded $675,000 by the six-member jury. His wife, Famah, 33, was awarded $50,000 for loss of his companionship as a result of the injury.

Briggs said the total damage award, plus interest since the time the suit was filed against Boise Cascade in April 1989, probably would exceed $800,000.

“It was not the first time people had fallen into holes when the grates were off,” Briggs stated in trial documents.