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(08/38)
TRENTON - The state has secured nearly $4
million in damages and has protected more
than 700 acres of open space over the past
year as the result of settlements that compensate
the public for injuries to natural resources,
Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Lisa P. Jackson announced today.
"We
continue to fight on behalf of New Jersey's
citizens, who have a fundamental right to
be compensated for natural resources that
have been harmed by pollution," Commissioner
Jackson said. "Our quality of life
is intrinsically entwined with the quality
of our natural resources, whether it's having
the ability to cast a fishing line into
a clear stream or having access to clean
and abundant drinking water."
The
DEP, represented by the Attorney General's
office, files lawsuits known as natural-resource
damage claims that seek monetary and land
compensation for injuries discharges of
hazardous substances and oil spills have
caused to natural resources such as ground
water, surface water bodies, and wetlands.
"NRD
litigation is an important tool to ensure
that contaminated properties are cleaned
up and restored, and ensures that the state
is compensated for injuries to its precious
natural resources," said Attorney General
Anne Milgram. "On behalf of all New
Jersey residents, we will continue to work
with the DEP to pursue lawsuits aimed at
protecting our environment and obtaining
just compensation for the harm done by pollution."
The
DEP uses money from settlements of these
lawsuits toward ecological restoration projects
in the same watershed where the original
resource injuries occurred. In negotiating
the settlements, the DEP works to preserve
land that has high ecological value, particularly
land that recharges groundwater supplies.
Since
June 2007, the DEP's Office of Natural Resource
Restoration has resolved claims against
19 responsible parties that caused pollution
at 41 sites. These include the following
major settlements:
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New Providence-based Lucent Technologies,
as successor in interest to AT&T,
agreed to pay $1.2 million for groundwater
contamination at nine sites it owns in
Berkeley Heights, Chester Borough, Chester
Township, Hanover, Holmdel, Kearny, and
New Providence.
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Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Bayer Corp.,
as successor to Miles Inc., Lanxess and
other companies, agreed to pay $1 million
for groundwater pollution at a chemical,
plastic and rubber manufacturing plant
in Haledon, Passaic County. Cleanup of
the property has included capping of portions
of the site, groundwater treatment, and
operation of a soil-vapor extraction system.
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Folsom-based South Jersey Gas
Co. settled natural resource
damage liability resulting from groundwater
contamination at a dozen sites of predecessor
companies that once derived gas from coal.
The coal-gasification facilities were
located in Atlantic City, Bridgeton, Egg
Harbor City, Glassboro, Hammonton, Millville,
Penns Grove, Pleasantville, Vineland and
Woolwich. The company agreed to provide
a conservation easement on a 149-acre
property in Folsom and to provide $549,200
to preserve 159 acres in Buena Vista,
Mullica and Oldmans townships.
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The 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn.
settled a complaint resulting from the
disposal of chemical wastes at the Woodland
dump sites in Burlington County in the
1950s and 1960s. The sites have undergone
significant cleanup actions, including
soil removal and groundwater remediation.
3M agreed to pay the state $315,000 for
resource damages and is donating 154 acres
of woodlands in Buena Vista Township,
Atlantic County, as a groundwater recharge
area. The DEP is currently negotiating
with other responsible parties to resolve
their natural-resource injury liability
at the Woodland dump sites.
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As part of a consent decree addressing
groundwater contamination, Southern
Ocean Landfill Inc. is arranging
for the donation of 195 acres of forest
as a groundwater recharge area. The wooded
area is adjacent to the landfill, which
is located in Ocean Township, and is near
two state wildlife management areas, Greenwood
Forest and Forked River Mountain.
Settlement
of natural-resource damage claims does not
absolve responsible parties of past or future
cleanup obligations or DEP penalties associated
with the sites. Since the program's inception
in the early 1990s, the DEP has secured
more than $55 million in damages and protected
approximately 6,000 acres.
For
more information on the Office of Natural
Resource Restoration, go to: www.nj.gov/dep/nrr/
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