$9.5M Lawsuit Settled With ExxonMobil Over Decades Of Dumping In NJ Wetlands

EAST GREENWICH TOWNSHIP, NJ — ExxonMobil will pay the state $9.5 million to resolve a natural resource contamination lawsuit in Gloucester County, officials said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil in 2019, claiming that decades of dumping damaged natural resources near the company's Lail property.

The wetland property sat on 12 acres in East Greenwich Township and Paulsboro Borough, in a tidal area. It is directly connected to Mantua Creek, which flows into the Delaware River.

Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette announced the settlement Monday.

In the 1950s, the oil giant began using the property to get rid of drums full of petroleum products and other hazardous substances, the state said.

The state says that even after the company tried to clean up the site, harmful chemicals remained in the water, soil, and sediment there.

"In the late 1950s, Mobil Corp. used the Lail property to dispose of drums filled with petroleum products, polychlorinated biphenyls ('PCBs') and other hazardous substances, discharging these industrial contaminants into the area’s waterways and wetlands," Platkin and LaTourette said in a joint news release.

ExxonMobile excavated more than 86,000 cubic yards of "contaminated soil and sediment" between 2008 and 2010, the state said. The company also backfilled the exacted area and "planted trees, shrubs, and more than 6,000 plants" there. Even so, the state says,

"Despite remedial activity at the site, inspections and testing in the run-up to the State’s lawsuit found that PCBs remained on and around the property, including in groundwater, soil, wetlands, sediment, and other sensitive ecological resources," the state said.

“This is an important outcome for New Jersey residents, because it means compensation to the State for damage visited upon our wetlands, waterways and other precious natural resources,” said Platkin in the news release. “When polluters treat some of our most pristine and sensitive areas as their own private disposal grounds, we hold them accountable.”

“With this action, the Murphy Administration continues to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that the public receives just compensation for the harm polluters have caused to our state’s precious natural resources, no matter how long ago the pollution may have occurred,” said LaTourette. “We will continue to fight for recoveries such as this, which put money back into meaningful ecological restoration projects for our communities.”

The state filed a six-count lawsuit against ExxonMobil in 2019, alleging violations of New Jersey’s Spill Compensation and Control Act and the state Water Pollution Control Act. The state also alleged trespass, strict liability, tortious interference, and creating a public nuisance.