By Josh Dawsey
New Jersey's proposed $225 million settlement with Exxon Mobil
Corp. for years of environmental damage came under scrutiny
Thursday, as legislators and environmentalists called for separate
probes and rejection of the deal.
During a court battle spanning a decade, state officials had
argued for $8.9 billion. Exxon officials called that unreasonable.
The Christie administration defended the settlement Thursday and
released some details.
"This important settlement, which came about because this
administration aggressively pushed the case to trial, is the result
of long fought settlement negotiations that pre-dated and
post-dated the trial," Attorney General John Hoffman said.
The settlement is subject to approval by a state judge after a
30-day comment period.
The state called the damage "staggering and unprecedented,"
citing environmental experts and others in the litigation. A judge
had been expected to rule on damages later this year. Mr.
Christie's administration sought a delay while it apparently
negotiated with Exxon.
Officials on both sides hadn't expected the state to score the
full $8.9 billion. But many questioned on Thursday whether New
Jersey whether New Jersey had settled too cheaply.
Senator Raymond Lesniak, a Democrat who represents the area,
vowed to challenge the settlement "every step of the way" until the
state got what he called "just compensation" for damage done by the
company's Bayway and Bayonne refineries to more than 1,500 acres of
wetlands, meadows and waterways.
"Apparently, this administration took it out of the hands of the
career attorneys handling toxic contamination cases for the
attorney general and the Department of Environmental Protection and
had the governor's office engineer a depleted settlement," Sen.
Lesniak said Thursday.
The Christie administration said the settlement was the largest
environmental settlement in the state's history and that it was
committed to the environment.
The settlement came within a year of Exxon Mobil giving $500,000
to the Republican Governors Association, which Mr. Christie led in
2014, trumpeting its record fundraising numbers.
While the company has long given to the organization, its 2014
donation was its second highest annual donation to the group. Exxon
has in the past given $100,000 or $200,000 to the organization per
year, though it gave $625,000 in 2010.
The donations far exceeded what the company gave to the
Democratic Governors Association, according to federal filings.
An Exxon spokesman said the donations had nothing to do with Mr.
Christie leading the group and reflected a number of competitive
gubernatorial races in 2014. The spokesman also said the company
gave more to Republicans than Democrats because it generally agreed
with the GOP more on policy.
Mr. Christie's office didn't respond to a request for comment on
the donations.
Critics noted Mr. Christie blocked legislative attempts to
require the state to use all settlement funds to repair the
environment. Only the first $50 million is tagged for the
remediation, the remainder is to go toward balancing the state
budget.
The governor faces a challenging budget cycle as he eyes 2016,
with pressure from Democrats to raise taxes for the broke
transportation trust fund. He has paid less than promised into the
state's pension system because of lagging revenues.
The state said it wouldn't receive any of the Exxon money until
2016.
Bradley Campbell, a former commissioner of New Jersey's
Department of Environmental Protection, said on Thursday Mr.
Christie's top lawyer interfered in the case and pushed aside
longtime officials who had worked on the case. Christopher Porrino,
the attorney, also traveled with Mr. Christie for RGA duties. In a
release, Mr. Christie's administration said the governor's office
consulted on the case. Mr. Porrino didn't respond to a request for
comment.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, said federal
investigators should probe whether Mr. Christie's office interfered
with the attorney general's negotiations and that lawmakers were
seeking related documents.
"If what is alleged took place, than this is much bigger than
any kind litigation and its subject matter for Paul Fishman," Mr.
Sweeney said during an unrelated press call Thursday. "We have to
dig down to the bottom of it."
Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for the governor, called the
criticism "absurd and baseless," noting Mr. Campbell's Democratic
affiliation.
Heather Haddon contributed to this article
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