New Jersey: "Environmental Groups To Appeal $225M ExxonMobil Deal"

"A group of New Jersey environmental organizations Monday took the first step to appeal what it called the Christie administration's 'dirty deal' — the $225 million settlement with ExxonMobil over contamination of industrial sites in New Jersey.

New Jersey Sierra Club, Environment New Jersey, The Delaware Riverkeeper and Clean Water Action filed a 17-page motion in state Appellate Court to intervene in the state's settlement with the energy company.

'The settlement amount is strikingly and suspiciously low in light of the resource devastation Exxon has wrought at the refinery sites,' the filing says. 'Compounding the problem, the settlement proposes to release Exxon from natural-resource damage liability at over 1,700 retail gas stations and 16 additional sites throughout New Jersey — even though none of those additional sites was part of the Department's case.'"

Tim Darragh reports for the Newark Star-Ledger/NJ Advance Media September 14, 2015.