TRENTON, N.J. — Details of New Jersey's proposed $225 million settlement with Exxon Mobil over pollution around refineries in Linden and Bayonne were posted online Monday, starting the clock on a legal process that will stretch into June and giving vocal opponents an opportunity to persuade a judge to kill the deal.
Details of the proposed deal struck last month between the attorney general and the Texas-based oil company were published on the Department of Environmental Protection's website.
Here's what you need to know about the four-page proposal:
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HOW IT WORKS
The Department of Environmental Protection said the public has 60 days to comment and then it will decide whether to approve the agreement, which it is expected to do.
Then, Judge Michael Hogan will issue a ruling on the offer. If he does not sign off, he may decide what the damage award should be, though it is common with agreements such as the one between the state and Exxon to be approved by the judge.
Commenting on the settlement gives the commenter standing to pursue an appeal.
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THE DEAL'S DETAILS
In addition to the Linden and Bayonne sites, the proposed settlement would resolve pollution claims at 16 service station sites across the state. It also proposes resolving claims at all services stations in New Jersey where, the department says in a news release, there was little or no damage and where there was no evidence of MTBE, a chemical compound used a gasoline additive. The department said litigating over these sites would cost taxpayers more than their expected value.
The $225 million proposal would be the second-largest natural resource settlement against a corporate defendant in the country's history and the largest in state history, the department said in a statement. Only the Exxon-Valdez payout was larger.
"We have vigorously litigated this case for the good of the environment and for the people of New Jersey," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said in a statement. "On top of the historic payout for this natural resources damages settlement, there is no cap on what ExxonMobil must spend to complete the remediation work. ExxonMobil is also obligated to remediate all of the other, though far less contaminated, sites included in the proposed agreement."
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POLITICALLY VOLATILE
News of the proposed settlement has become a political lightning rod because a report in the court documents had estimated that the state might recover up to $8.9 billion. Leaks of the deal appeared in the press before the attorney general discussed the details, and the Democrat-led Legislature criticized Republican Gov. Chris Christie's administration for accepting pennies on the dollar.
New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel bashed the proposal. "It's really the largest sellout in history," he said in an interview.
Christie has publicly emphasized that Exxon Mobil must still clean the site.
"Under this settlement, ExxonMobil's obligation to remediate the refinery sites - exclusively at its cost, which will be substantial -- is reaffirmed," acting Attorney General John Hoffman said in a statement.
It's unclear how much cleanup will cost. Exxon Mobil will not speculate on the remediation process, said spokesman Todd Spitler said in a statement. Since 1991, the company has spent about $260 million to clean up the Linden and Bayonne sites under DEP supervision, Spitler said.
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BUDGET BATTLE
If the deal goes forward, the settlement money would not be available until the start of the fiscal year — July 1 — at the earliest, Hoffman said last month.
How that money is disbursed has also become the subject of a fierce debate. Under current law and as Christie proposed in his 2016 budget, the first $50 million of money recovered from natural resources settlements would go toward site cleanup and the rest would go toward the general fund. The Democratic-controlled Legislature has sent Christie a bill that would require half of the money from settlements of more than $50 million to be spent on cleanup. Christie has until May to decide if he'll veto the bill.
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