Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100

Sierra Club in Court Against Exxon and Christie: Fighting for NJ Since They Won’t

Today we are in court for oral arguments to appeal the Exxon Settlement. The New Jersey Sierra Club and other environmental groups plan to appeal Judge Hogan’s decision to uphold the Exxon settlement at the Appellate Court. The groups represented in the case believe that the settlement hurts both the environment and the taxpayers and DEP has not properly represented the public. Exxon should be responsible for the environmental damages impacted at three refineries, 16 sites and over 800 gas stations throughout New Jersey. By appealing the case, we plan to uphold the Spill Act, make sure there are proper Natural Resource Damages assessed and uphold the Public Trust Doctrine. We also believe we have right to intervene under the Environmental Rights Act and the Judge should not have denied us that right. New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel released the following statement:

“We’re in court today to fight for the people of NJ because the Christie Administration sold them out when they sided with corporate polluters. We felt that our attorney has made a very strong argument on the need for us to intervene in this case. We’re in court today doing the job that the state of NJ should be doing; protecting our environment and taxpayers. Polluters need to clean up their mess and pay for the damages they’ve done. The Christie Administration agreed to settle for less than $225 million for estimated natural resources damages of over $8.9 billion from Exxon’s contamination at two refineries. The public’s right to be heard outweighs Christie’s ability to cut a dirty deal with Exxon. What is more outrageous is by not cleaning up their mess, Exxon will get another billion-dollar tax break. That’s why we have appealed this case to make sure the polluters pay and the people are compensated for this pollution. We’re in court upholding the Public Trust Doctrine because we can not trust the Christie Administration to do it.

“The NJDEP and Exxon challenged our intervention in this case but that is because they are not working for the benefit of the people of New Jersey. We are here to represent the people and environment who should not be sold out for this deal. By settling this case, the Administration has saved Exxon billions of dollars at the expense of the taxpayers and violated New Jersey law. We are suing under the Environmental Rights Act, which gives us standing to enter the case, the Spill Act that requires the cleanup of sites in a timely fashion, and against the DEP’s violation to the federal statue in CERCLA and the Oil Pollution Act. We also feel that we have merit in this cause because of the Christie Administration’s actions. After the case over, they added 1,000 gas stations and 16 other contaminated sites as part of the deal. This violates the Spill Act.

“We were not part of the case when it was originally filed because the DEP was doing their job then. It wasn’t until Governor Christie decided to become a national politician that he started raising money for the RGA. The people of New Jersey have been victimized twice- first by the pollution and second by the state settling less than $225 million for natural resource damages estimating more than $8.9 billion at two refineries and then adding 16 additional sites, and over 800 gas stations. What is more outrageous is by not cleaning up their mess, Exxon will get another billion-dollar tax break. By cutting a dirty deal with them, he sacrificed New Jersey’s environment and sold out the our people for his presidential bid. That’s why we have appealed this case to make sure the polluters pay and the people are compensated for this pollution.

“During the oral arguments, it was incorrectly stated that the Legislature decided to take the money for the General Fund. In actuality, it was the Christie Administration and the DEP Commissioner has testified to support this. When the Legislature didn’t go along with Christie’s plan, he line-itemed the budget to steal the funds. The Legislature has since stood up to the Governor by creating a constitutional dedication on the ballot so future settlement funds can not be stolen. Citizens will vote on whether we should dedicate environmental settlement Funds to certain environmental purposes. The Christie Administration has violated the public trust by taking these funds for other purposes and this delay will further allow more raids for environmental funds.

“The most shameful part of today was listening to New Jersey’s attorneys using taxpayer money to misrepresent the case. They spouted alternative facts and misrepresented the law including violating the Spill Act and where they money would go. We want the Appellate Court to reverse the trial Judge’s terrible decision. We are going to keep fighting this sellout no matter what it takes. Our appeal will require DEP to do job it hasn’t done, which is to force Exxon to clean up its mess. If we can hold the decision of the case until after November, then Christie can’t steal money. We can also hope that the next Administration would want to go back on this dirty deal and instead do what’s best for the communities and environment of New Jersey who have suffered at the hands of Exxon.”