Christie Grabbing Money from Sunoco Settlement Sell-Out 

The New Jersey Sierra Club has submitted comments opposing the DEP’s proposed settlement with Sunoco for Natural Resources Damages. We believe the $64 million settlement amount does not adequately compensate the public for the loss of public use and damage of natural resources at Sunoco’s facilities. We are also very concerned that out of 6,252 total MTBE sites under the total MTBE settlement, DEP has failed to release how many are Sunoco facilities. This is concerning because we do not even know how much money we are getting for each site and if we are being ripped off. In New Jersey, if polluters spill chemicals and destroy natural resources, they not only have to clean-up your mess, but also compensate the public for loss of use. This is part of New Jersey’s Public Trust Doctrine that means natural resources belong to all of us. We urge the Department to reject this deal because it does not adequately compensate the public or the environment.

“Just like they did with the Exxon Settlement, DEP is selling out our environment for pennies on the dollar. The Sunoco settlement is part of MTBE contamination lawsuit at 6,252 sites. These sites are a huge public health threat because MTBE threatens drinking water and is a potential carcinogen. This $64 million settlement amount does not adequately compensate the public for the loss of public use and damage of natural resources at Sunoco’s facilities. The problem with this settlement is we also don’t know how many sites out of the 6,252 are Sunoco’s responsibility so we don’t know how bad they are selling us out. What they are doing is settling this case quickly before the ballot question is passed and they cannot steal the money anymore” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “With this settlement, we don’t even know if this money is pennies on the dollar because there isn’t enough time to compare them to other MTBE cases across the country or know what the original charge was. We don’t even have information on how much money per site Sunoco has to pay. What the Christie Administration is doing is settling these cases quickly so he can steal the money for other purposes.”

MTBE is a gasoline additive, used as an oxygenate to raise the octane number. Its use is controversial because of its contamination of groundwater. There are opportunities for MTBE to leak into the environment (and potentially get in drinking water sources) wherever gasoline is stored, and there are opportunities for it to be spilled whenever fuel is transported or transferred. At room temperature, MTBE is a volatile, flammable and colorless liquid that dissolves rather easily in water.

“When you sell out the public and let the polluters off the hook, it sends a message that you can get away with anything. With the little amount the company would end up paying, we are concerned it could allow Sunoco and others to simply cap the sites, leaving pollution in the ground. Therefore, these settlements could simply be a tax write-off. This settlement also makes it virtually impossible to go after Sunoco for future claims without also suing municipalities and other government agencies,” said Jeff Tittel. “Governor Christie has turned environmental settlements into his personal slush fund to plug budget holes and give tax breaks to the wealthy. Some of these MTBE cases were filed as long ago as 2007, but the Administration has done nothing until now. It is clear they are grabbing $235 million now before the constitutional dedication is passed.”

With Governor Christie’s budget language, he can steal environmental settlements to plug budget holes and give tax breaks to the wealthy. As a result, the legislature put a constitutional dedication on the November Ballot, called Ballot Question #2 to ensure monies from environmental settlements would go to repair, preserve, replace, or preserve natural resources. Since, the Christie Administration has settled five major Natural Resource Damage settlements totaling $235 million from MTBE lawsuits. They are trying to settle these cases quickly before the referendum is passed. In total, there is more than $500 million available from all of the environmental settlements settled by the Christie Administration. The total list of environmental settlements can be found below.

“Communities in New Jersey have been victimized twice. Once by chemical spills and toxic pollution and twice by Governor Christie stealing environmental settlements. The legislature and voters are trying to put a stop to this. As a result, Governor Christie is trying to grab as much money as he can before the Ballot Question #2 is passed. This is outrageous because under New Jersey law, polluters must pay to clean up their mess, but also compensate the public for loss of use. This referendum would prevent him or any other Governor from stealing these funds in the future,” said Jeff Tittel. “Even though natural resources are held in the public trust, in Christie’s budget he can use these settlement monies for other purposes. Under the current budget language, $50 million from environmental settlements can go to DEP for lawyer fees and environmental programs. It is clear that he is now settling these cases as a last-minute larceny on the environment. This not only hurts the environment, but hurts the taxpayers.”

Constitutional dedication of monies received by the state in Natural Resource Damage litigation is critical given the Christie administration’s track record and the language in the current FY2016 budget that would allow up to $175 million to be diverted from the Exxon settlement to the General Fund. The budget allows Governor Christie to transfer any money from the Exxon settlement agreement over $50 million to the state General Fund under the currently proposed FY2016 budget language. Most of the remaining $50 million will go to lawyer fees, leaving almost nothing for the people who have been affected by the pollution. He has done this in the past, taking $140 million from the Passaic River cleanup litigation in the current budget.

“People are outraged by the Exxon Settlement, now he is doing his last Gold Rush to steal money from 5 other settlements. While we are still in Court against the Exxon Settlement, if we lose the Christie Administration can steal over $400 million from all of these settlements. The Exxon Settlement is the biggest corporate giveaway in state history and would allow Exxon to get away over a hundred years of contamination at 18 sites and 800 gas stations. Wetlands, groundwater, waterways, and fisheries belong to the people of New Jersey and are held in the public trust. Polluters should be held responsible to pay for the damages to natural resources and the money must go where it is intended,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “By taking from these settlements, it threatens human health because MTBEs can impact drinking water wells and groundwater. We need people to vote Yes to block future administrations from robbing money for environmental clean ups. We need to stop the Great Environmental Heist.”

The list of settlements on the DEP website can be found below:

1.      Posted: September 5, 2017

Shell has agreed to settle alleged liability for damages, past cleanup and removal costs, and injunctive relief by paying $68,500,000 to the Department.

2.      Posted: August 21, 2017

BP has agreed to settle alleged liability for damages, past cleanup and removal costs, and injunctive relief by making two payments of $32,000,000.00 each plus Interest (as defined in the Judicial Consent Order) to the Department.

3.      Posted: August 7, 2017

Sunoco has agreed to settle alleged liability

for damages, past cleanup and removal costs, and injunctive relief by paying $64,000,000.00 to the Department.

4.      Posted: February 21, 2017

ConocoPhillips has agreed to settle alleged liability for damages, past cleanup and removal costs, and injunctive relief by paying $39,000,000 to the Department.

5.      Posted: February 8, 2017

SPC/ Matawan, LLC must pay DEP $3,821.89 as compensation for alleged liability for damages and past cleanup and removal costs.

6.      Posted: August 15, 2016

Under the proposed Consent Decree, Crown Central has agreed to settle alleged liability for past cleanup and removal costs and damages by paying $275,000 to the Department.

7.      Posted: October 19, 2015

Duke has agreed to settle alleged liability for past cleanup and removal costs and damages by paying $1,700,000 to the Department.

8.      Posted: September 21, 2015

Coastal has agreed to settle alleged liability

for damages, past cleanup and removal costs, and injunctive relief by paying $20,000,000 to the Department.

9.      Posted: July 6, 2015

Vitol has agreed to settle alleged liability for past cleanup and removal costs and damages by paying $2,150,000 to the Department.

10.  Posted: June 15, 2015

The Creditor Representative (The Debtors, Reorganized Debtors and Lyondell-Citgo Refining LP, A Delaware Limited Partnership, referred to collectively as “Lyondell”) has agreed to settle alleged liability for damages, past cleanup and removal costs, and injunctive relief by allowing the Department a general unsecured claim under the Plan in the amount of $30,000,000.

11.  Posted: April 6, 2015

DEP settled less than $225,000,000 for estimated natural resources damages of over $8.9 billion from Exxon’s impacted at three refineries, 16 sites and over 800 gas stations throughout New Jersey.

For more information you can visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/nrr/settlements/index.html