Exxon New Jersey Chris Christie Lawsuit Settlement For $226M Over

New Jersey wanted to hold Exxon responsible for decades of natural resources contamination stemming from its refinery operations in Bayonne and Linden, as well as other facilities, including more than 1,700 gas stations.

While a New Jersey judge approved the state’s 5 million settlement with ExxonMobil, he expressed concern over delayed cleanup at a polluted creek, which a state lawmaker says could open up a route to appeal the decision.

But environmental critics and Democratic legislators have faulted Christie, a Republican running for U.S. president, for entering a lowball settlement rather than continuing to fight in court, where Hogan oversaw a trial that ran 66 days previous year. “After a decadelong court battle, this spring the Christie administration abruptly and inexplicably gave the oil giant a more than 98 percent discount on the damages due for its destruction”.

Chris Christie over the weekend said during remarks at the Iowa State Fair that businesses “should not be able to discriminate”. Today’s decision by the Court sadly rubberstamps the Christie Administration’s sell-out settlement.

A press release sent out by the State Attorney General’s office hailed what it called a landmark and historic settlement because Hogan clearly stated that the standards met by the settlement are fair, reasonable and in the public’s interest. Exxon had agreed to remediate the sites before trial; all that was left to determine was what, if anything, the company owed New Jersey in natural resource damages. “This settlement still stinks”.

The deal covered properties such as the gas stations that were not part of the lawsuit.

The company began discussing environmental remediation with the state in the early 1990s, and as of December 2014 had spent more than $258 million on remediation in the Bayonne area, according to Judge Hogan’s ruling. For instance, a state expert said the cleanup and restoration of one site would have come to $2.7 billion.

“If this seal of approval of the dirty deal between Governor Christie and Exxon Mobil is not overturned, it not only codifies it’s OK to destroy the environment and rip-off taxpayers, but provides a road map to encourage it”, said David Pringle, NJ Campaign Director, Clean Water Action. They notified him on February 20 that they had reached an agreement.