ExxonMobil–New Jersey environmental contamination settlement

[1] The settlement was controversially settled by Governor Chris Christie's Administration for far less than the state originally sought when it began the lawsuit in 2004, and has been the subject of intense criticism from activists and environmentalists.

[2][3] In 1872, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil bought 176 acres of land on Constable Hook in Bayonne and by 1885 there was a pipeline connecting it to the field of Texas.

[12] In 2004, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection sued ExxonMobil for $8.9 billion, over lost wetland resources, which were not originally covered under the cleanup agreement.

In 2008, a judge ruled that ExxonMobil was responsible for "creating a public nuisance" with severe environmental contamination at sites around the refineries, thus initiating new litigations over how much Exxon was liable to pay to the state of New Jersey.

Although a New Jersey Superior Court justice was believed to be close to a ruling, the Christie Administration repeatedly asked the judge to wait, since they were reaching a settlement with ExxonMobil's attorneys.

[16][17] State Superior Court judge Michael Hogan approved the settlement on August 25, 2015, calling it "fair, reasonable, in the public interest, and consistent with the goals of the Spill Compensation and Control Act.

[21] Jeff Tittel, director of the state's chapter of the Sierra Club, which was also highly critical of the deal, said it will further weaken environmental protection efforts that Christie had already undermined throughout his tenure as governor.