Environmental groups and Democratic legislators have been trying to intervene in the case since the settlement was announced in March, but Superior Court Judge Michael Hogan on Friday denied their latest attempt.
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The New Jersey Attorney General has declined to comment on the environmental groups’ request and denial. The judge said that they all do not have the standing to get the lawsuit first of all.
A New Jersey ascertain controlled Friday that often environmental parties along with a Democratic area senator can’t intrude in the state’s seven m settlement with the use of Exxon Mobil. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union/Elizabeth) and the four groups do not have permission to bring the lawsuit.
The state originally had argued Exxon should pay $8.9 billion for pollution at about 1,700 retail gasoline stations, two oil refineries in northern New Jersey and more than a dozen other sites across the state.
The state of New Jersey sued Exxon mobil back in 2004, because the company was contaminating from its refinery operations in Bayonne and Linden.
The Christie administration said pursuing the almost $9 billion could have resulted in lengthy – and costly – litigation.
Hogan also said Lesniak could not intervene because this would violate the state Constitution’s separation of powers provision. For now, it is not known how much environmentalists wanted to have, but it would be definitely be more that amount.
Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey Sierra Club said, “All it means is the next move is up to us, and we are going to be appealing the judge’s ruling”.
ExxoMobil is still responsible for the cleanup of the sites, but that cleanup will fall short of the full-scale restoration prescribed by the state’s experts at trial. “Instead of cleaning it up, they would leave tons of oil and chemicals in the ground”, The New Jersey Sierra Club wrote in a statement on their website. “These sites are extremely contaminated and impact streams and wetlands”.
The state opposed the environmentalists’ intervention, saying nothing has changed this time around.
Exxon Mobil spokesman Todd Spitler called the settlement fair and reasonable and said Hogan’s decision provides certainty and finality.
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This report includes material from the Associated Press.
