Date : Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:21:23 -0400
For Immediate Release
March 10, 2015
Contact Jeff Tittel 609-558-9100
Governor Christie GOOD DEAL': Yeah for Exxon
Today, Governor Christie issued statements to respond to the Exxon Mobil $225 million settlement, instead of the original $8.9 billion for the contamination and loss of more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, marshes, meadows, and waters. Years of oil refining and other petrochemical operations led to the contamination and damage to the land and environment. Governor Christie said: it was good a deal, decided by the Attorney General and as per state standards there is no cap on what Exxon has to pay.
In response to Governor Christie's statement New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel released the following statement:
"If Christie thinks this was a good deal, then he must think the Boston Red Sox trade of Babe Ruth was a good deal. In his response to clean-up the site, they don't have to clean-up to the extent that they did before. Under the original order, Exxon would have had to restore the site which is more than a clean-up or remediation. Exxon would have to remove all the oil and chemicals then restore the wetlands to the state they were in before the spill. Now Exxon can just cap the site, which is not really a clean-up. This would leave tons of oil and chemicals in the ground, saving Exxon millions of dollars. That would mean that the sites would still be contaminated with potential of oil leaking into the groundwater."
"This is a good deal,' yeah for Exxon. 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."
"What the Governor said is more spin and misinformation. The Governor appointed the Attorney General and he is a very hands on Governor. Christie's trying to justify the unjustifiable. This case not only hurts the environment, but it rips off the taxpayers of New Jersey. The Christie Administration has settled this case fast to be able to use this money to help balance the general fund. This is outrageous abuse of power by the administration selling out the environment and the tax payers of New Jersey. This is a case that New Jersey was going to win, but the Christie Administration decided to sell out the people of New Jersey. They settled this case for pennies on the dollar. Instead of going to court and getting $9 billion the tax payers of New Jersey are only going to get $225 million. This is a complete giveaway to corporate polluters. The pollution on this site from Exxon was "staggering" according to Christie Administration court filed brief. All along the judges were ruling in favor of New Jersey. The administration had no reason to settle, other than balancing the budget and giving away the store to Exxon at the expense of New Jersey's environment."
"Under New Jersey law the public has the right to be compensated for the loss of public resources. By settling this case the Governor has violated that public trust. Under the budget language, Natural Resources Damages exceeding $50 million can be used for budget shortfalls. This means that out of the $250 million from the settlement, the Administration can take $175 million to fund the general fund."
"The Governor is more concerned about taking care of corporate polluters, his national political agenda and the Koch Brothers than he is about the people of New Jersey. This looks like Governor Christie's push to run for President since he cares more about Big Oil than the environment or taxpayers. This is a bigger scandal than Bridgegate. Bridgegate was about retribution: this settlement is costing the taxpayers billions of dollars. When you sell out the public and let the polluters off the hook, it sends a message that you can get away with anything in the Christie Administration. There needs to be an investigation because it looks like the Attorney General is involved in a cover-up not a clean-up," said Jeff Tittel, Director of The New Jersey Sierra Club .