Lawmakers: Give public more time for Exxon deal input
Michael S ymons, @MichaelS ymons_
6:37 p.m. EDT March 19, 2015
Assemblyman says he'd rather that New Jersey lose its environmental case against Exxon than settle for $225
million
TRENTON (/search/trenton/) – Lawmakers scrutinizing New Jersey's controversial ExxonMobil lawsuit
settlement (http://nj.gov/oag/newsreleases15/pr20150305b.html) advanced a plan Thursday to give the public
more time to comment on results of such environmental lawsuit settlements.
After the first of what's likely to be a series of hearings on the $225 million settlement of a lawsuit fought with
ExxonMobil since 2004, the Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed a bill that would give the
(Photo: ~File)
public 60 days, rather than 30 days, to comment to the Department of Environmental Protection about Spill
Compensation and Control Act settlements.
Acting Attorney General John Hoffman and Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin both declined invitations to testify at the committee
hearing. Assemblyman John McKeon (http://www.johnfmckeon.com/), D-Essex, the committee chairman, said he has spoken extensively about the case
with both and each expressed concern about discussing the case publicly in case a Superior Court judge rejects the settlement, sending it back for
further negotiations.
RELATED: Linden residents, leaders reject state's $225M Exxon settlement (/story/news/local/union-county/2015/03/13/christie-exxon-mobil-settlementlinden/70275904/)
McKeon said Superior Court Judge Michael Hogan is likely to defer to the DEP and approve the settlement, presuming the DEP endorses it after the
public comment period that will start in early April.
Hogan had been expected to rule soon in the case, in which the state sought $8.9 billion for remediation and compensatory damages. ExxonMobil
already must clean refinery operation sites in Bayonne (http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases07/NRD-lawsuits-07/Exxon-Bayonne-Complaint.pdf) and
Linden (http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases07/NRD-lawsuits-07/Exxon-Bayway-Complaint.pdf) under terms of a 1991 consent agreement. McKeon said
the state had a very strong case and should have taken its chances with Hogan rather than settle.
"For $225 million, I'd rather lose. I would literally rather lose than to ratify the behavior of a bad actor who stonewalled given the chance many, many
times to do the right thing by the people. I would rather lose," said McKeon, who said ExxonMobil's willingness to finally settle indicates that it feared the
judge's ruling.
RELATED: Senate begins two-part fight to thwart Exxon settlement (/story/news/local/new-jersey/2015/03/09/nj-senate-begins-two-part-fight-thwartexxon-settlement/24654563/)
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (http://michaelcarroll.com/), R-Morris, said the trial transcripts show ExxonMobil had launched "a full-throated
assault" on the state expert's evaluation and may have had a strong position. Lawmakers from both parties acknowledged a judge's ruling would have
resulted in years of further appeals.
"Whenever you have a situation in which you are putting your life into the hands of the guy wearing a black robe, you're probably making a mistake
because you don't know how those things are going to go. It's not quite like going to Atlantic City, but it's close," Carroll said. "There is the possibility, of
course, that at the end of the day, we could get nothing."
The state was directed by a judge in 2004 to update the enforcement regulations for its natural-resources program but hasn't done so and has lost
cases as a result, said Bill Wolfe, director of the New Jersey chapter of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (http://www.peer.org/aboutus/peer-field-offices/new-jersey.html). Exxon's legal argument exploits those vulnerabilities, he said.
"There are valid arguments that can strengthen the program and it not be firing on one cylinder," Wolfe said.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead called the environmental impacts of the Bayway Refinery operation in his city a travesty and said the cleanup requires
extensive government oversight.
RELATED: Republicans defend Christie administration's Exxon deal (/story/news/local/union-county/2015/03/06/new-jersey-exxon-settlement-lindenbayway/24521237/)
"I just don't trust the large corporations to be responsible enough to clean up. I don't trust them any more than I would trust my 8-year-old daughter to
clean her room," Armstead said.
"Anyone who thinks that ExxonMobil will complete a comprehensive cleanup of these sites is dreaming," said Debbie Mans, executive director of the
nonprofit environmental organization NY/NJ Baykeeper (http://nynjbaykeeper.org/demand-the-cheap-and-unjust-exxon-proposed-settlement-berejected/).
McKeon encouraged the DEP to voluntarily double the public-comment period for the Exxon settlement to 60 days, regardless of the fate of the bill.
In a party-line vote, with Democrats for it and Republicans against, the committee also endorsed a bill already passed by the Senate that would change
the current state budget to put more money from environmental lawsuit settlements into environmental programs, rather than the general fund.
That change probably wouldn't affect the ExxonMobil settlement, as the money is unlikely to arrive before the end of June. It would affect the proceeds
from a $190 million settlement with Occidental Chemical for Passaic River pollution. However, it's unlikely Christie would sign it, and the proposal
doesn't have enough votes to overcome a veto.
Gov. Chris Christie is proposing to include language in next year's state budget that would again allow most money from large environmental
settlements to be shifted into the general fund.
McKeon said additional hearings on the topic are likely. He said he would like to hear testimony, even if subpoenas are required, from staff attorneys at
the state Department of Law and Public Safety and the outside law firm assisting on the case. He said the hearings will go beyond just the ExxonMobil
case to look at the state Natural Resource Damages lawsuits more generally.
The proposed settlement covers claims pertaining to 16 facilities in addition to the Bayonne and Bayway facilities, including a refinery operation in
Paulsboro, and retail service stations. The state declined to provide information about the 16 facilities in response to an open-records request saying
the request was too broad because it didn't identify the locations, said Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union.
"It could turn out to be much worse than we anticipate," Mans said.
Michael Symons: (609) 984-4336; [email protected]
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