Exxon Sell Out Hearing in Bayonne

For Immediate Release

June 3, 2015

Contact Jeff Tittel 609-558-9100

Exxon Sell Out Hearing in Bayonne

The following is Jeff Tittel’s Statement:

Today the Assembly Judiciary Committee met to discuss the $225 million settlement agreement between the Attorney General and ExxonMobil for the environmental damage caused by Exxon's refinery operations in Bayonne and Linden. Bayonne and Linden will be part of a deal that receives only $225 million when it should be $9 billion for 1,500 acres of wetland restoration and other damages. This is a ridiculous shortchange.

“The Bayonne refinery was built in wetlands and shallows. They filled in acres of wetlands, contaminated groundwater and the Bay around the plant. These areas are still contaminated and haven’t been thoroughly cleaned. The people in Bayonne have dealt with pollution and ruined ecosystems because of Exxon. Exxon was responsible for $9 billion in damages for the Bayonne and Linden refineries but under this settlement will walk away with only paying $225 million. Now the DEP is settling this case for pennies on the dollar without requiring complete cleanup and restoration of the areas. The people of Bayonne won’t see a penny of this settlement since the money will be used for lawyers and to plug budget holes,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We’re testifying to make sure this sellout is rejected. We want to go forward in getting the people of Bayonne and the rest of New Jersey the money they deserve. We should be restoring the environment, not protecting Exxon.”

Under the new deal, Exxon does not have to clean-up sites to the extent that they had to before. That is a difference between site restoration and remediation. In the original court case, Exxon would have had to restore the site to its original conditions before the spill. They would have to remove all the oil and chemicals and then restore the wetlands to the state. Now Exxon can just cap the site, which is not really a clean-up. Capping the site would mean Exxon would be required to simply fill the site and not completely restore it. So instead of cleaning it up they would this would leave tons of oil and chemicals in the ground. That would mean that the sites would still be contaminated with potential of oil leaking into the groundwater. The next time there is a storm, the toxins end up spreading to people’s basements and homes through vapor intrusion. The settlement, as proposed, would cover an additional 16 industrial sites and 800 to 1,700 privately-owned gas stations. The settlement includes Paulsboro sites, Flemington and Pennington oil depots, Edison Research Lab, Linden oil depot and many other contaminated sites around New Jersey. The Paulsboro Refinery is a 950 acre site that has contaminated wetlands and tidal marshes and clean up there alone could cost billions. There was a 135,000 gallon oil spill and nine additional spills as well contaminating 63 acres of the aquifer and billions of gallons of groundwater.

“The same administration that said the $9 billion Exxon Settlement for Bayway and Bayonne was worth $225 million, now says the $81 million restoration for Paulsboro Terminal does not have to happen. That means Exxon will be led off the hook for another $81 million. Instead of recovering tens of millions of dollars for groundwater contamination, the damages will be only $1.1 million. They are using the same magic wand that makes corporate polluters liabilities disappear. This time in Paulsboro with the wave of their hand, Exxon save millions of dollars,”said Jeff Tittel. “The Paulsboro settlement adds another $81 to $90 million giveaway to Exxon from the Christie Administration. After you giveaway $9 billion, what’s another $81 million between friends?”

The settlement was worth $9 billion yet only $225 million is being put forth. The settlement is even worse than originally reported. In addition to the Bayway and Bayonne refineries, the site now includes 16 sites and groundwater contamination from hundreds of Exxon Mobil gas stations. Millions of gallons of groundwater have been contaminated by MTBE and other chemicals impacting wells and groundwater. They expanded the settlement to include sites that weren’t in the original lawsuit so they are settling for even less.

“The DEP has said they don’t have information on these 16 other sites or the 800 to 1,700 gas stations. We later found out that there was information on the Paulsboro Oil Terminal and Exxon gas stations. Every contaminated site in the state of New Jersey back in the 1990’s received a Characterization Report including areas impacted by pollution, be they wetlands or soils, impacts on public health and types of contaminates. These could be used to determine what natural resources damages there were. These sites were ranked with the RPS (Remedial Priority Score) by the amount of contaminates and impact on public health. These reports also show how many different spills happened at each site. Within the DEP files there should be information on every site. The information does exist but the DEP has chosen to not release it to the public or use it at all,” said Jeff Tittel.

In our own files we’ve found information on two gas stations, the Linden Exxon lab, and the Paulsboro Exxon Lube site. This site is considered a C2 site with multiple pollutants and groundwater contamination. The point is, the DEP doesn’t want this information out there. They don’t want the public to know just how dirty this deal is. They want to take a sellout from Exxon instead of fighting for what the people deserve.

“Each time you look the deal gets worse and worse. This is the biggest corporate tax subsidy in state history. In some ways it is a bigger scandal than Bridgegate. The only way we started to get any facts on Bridgegate when the legislature had subpoena power. Bridgegate was about retribution: this settlement is costing the taxpayers billions of dollars. The DEP is withholding important information. The only way we’re going to clean up this mess is with subpoena power. This isn’t a settlement; it’s a sellout,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.