Judge approves Christie’s $225M settlement with Exxon
Throw in some suspicious elements in the final negotiations, when the Christie administration elbowed its way into the proceedings to secure the deal, and you have a settlement that smells rotten to the core and will leave untouched contaminated lands and waterways across the state.
A state judge Tuesday approved a controversial 5 million settlement negotiated between ExxonMobil and the Christie administration related to decades of extensive pollution at two of the oil giant’s former refineries in Linden and Bayonne.
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The settlement has been highly criticized by environmental groups and Democrats who control the state Legislature, who argue it is a fraction of the $8.9 billion New Jersey should have recovered.
The state has been seeking compensation for damage to more than 1,500 acres of wetlands and for the cleanup of refinery sites in Bayonne and Linden.
Acting New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman said the state can still pursue some claims against Exxon, including over damages to the Arthur Kill, Newark Bay and other surface waters.
The case stretches back to 2004, when the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state attorney general brought a lawsuit against Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp.
The heart of Hogan’s argument appears to be that the state risked getting less, or nothing, if the case proceeded through a trial. “This settlement still stinks”. It calls for the oil company to pay for environmental remediation at the sites for an as-yet-unknown cost. They notified him on February 20 that they had reached an agreement.
His decision to approve came after a 60-day public comment period, in which the vast majority of more than 16,000 public comments opposed the settlement, Hogan wrote.
The first $50 million of the settlement must be deposited in a fund for environmental cleanup.
“Both parties will now have the benefit of the certainty and finality that comes from this settlement”, he said.