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TRENTON
– The state has filed approximately
120 lawsuits that could result in hundreds
of millions of dollars in compensation from
polluters who have harmed New Jersey’s
natural resources, including numerous manufacturers
and marketers of the gasoline additive MTBE,
Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Lisa P. Jackson announced today.
“We
are committed to holding accountable those
polluters whose actions have sullied our
rivers, land and ground water, diminishing
public enjoyment of these natural resources,”
Commissioner Jackson said. “Working
closely with the Attorney General’s
office, we will aggressively pursue these
claims through the court system until the
public has been justly compensated for its
losses.”
Attorney
General Anne Milgram added: “We are
working with DEP to ensure that contaminated
properties are cleaned up and restored,
and that, where appropriate, polluters compensate
the residents of New Jersey for the loss
of precious natural resources.”
The
lawsuits, known as natural resource damage
claims, seek compensation above and beyond
cleanup costs and fines that DEP levies
against polluters. DEP uses money from natural
resource damage settlements toward ecological
restoration projects, typically in the same
watershed or general area where resource
damages occur.
One
of the lawsuits specifically targets scores
of designers and manufacturers of the gasoline
additive methyl tertiary butyl ether as
well as major-brand refiners and marketers
of gasoline that used MTBE, including Amerada
Hess, Atlantic Richfield Co., BP America,
Chevron, ExxonMobil, Getty, Shell, Texaco
and Valero Energy.
With
this particular lawsuit, New Jersey becomes
the third state to file complaints seeking
natural resource damages for the recovery
of all past and future costs to investigate,
remediate and restore natural resources
damaged by the discharge of MTBE.
Among
other companies facing natural resource
damage lawsuits are Ciba Geigy Specialty
Chemicals in Dover, Ocean County; the Bayway
refinery in Linden, Union County; Gloucester
City Titanium in Gloucester City, Camden
County; Landfill & Development Co. in
Lumberton, Mount Holly and Eastampton, Burlington
County; as well as Dow/Union Carbide in
Middlesex Borough and Piscataway Township,
Middlesex County.
The
state’s lawsuits take a special focus
on polluters that have damaged river resources.
Lawsuits have been filed against ISP Environmental
Services and G-I Holdings Inc., located
in Linden along Piles Creek near the Arthur
Kill; Mallinckrodt Baker, along the Delaware
River in Phillipsburg, Warren County; Genstar
Gypsum, located along the Delaware River
in Camden, Camden County; and Rhone Poulenc
along the Raritan River in Middlesex Borough.
“These
companies have left a legacy of pollutants
in sediments ranging from PCBs and pesticides
to volatile chemicals and hydrocarbons,”
Commissioner Jackson said. “Clean
rivers are vital to a vibrant economy and
a healthy environment.”
Since
its inception in 1994, DEP’s Natural
Resource Damage program has recovered more
than $51 million and preserved approximately
6,000 acres of open space as wildlife habitat
and ground water recharge areas as compensation
for pollution resulting from 1,500 contaminated
sites and oil spills.
Under DEP’s technical rules, all parties
responsible for polluting a site must conduct
a thorough analysis to determine the nature
and extent of pollution. Once this remedial
investigation is completed, DEP has 5 ½
years to file a lawsuit to recover damages
to natural resources if the responsible
party does not restore the injured resource
before then.
The Legislature recognized that remedial
investigations were completed at some sites
many years ago without the filing of natural
resource damage lawsuits. Consequently,
the Legislature provided a mechanism that
required filing of lawsuits within 5 ½
years of Jan. 1, 2002. The lawsuits include
sites evaluated by DEP and the Attorney
General’s office as being affected
by this deadline, which expires Saturday.
DEP
and the Attorney General’s office
continue to file new natural resource damage
claims as remedial investigations are competed
>>
Natural
Resource Damage Lawsuits
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