Foes of ExxonMobil settlement turn focus to Paulsboro

With a waning public-comment period for a proposed state settlement with ExxonMobil Corp. over pollution, opponents took aim Thursday at another aspect of the deal, this time in a South Jersey town well acquainted with environmental issues.

Standing in a Paulsboro park nestled between white fuel storage tanks, New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel proclaimed the area the "epicenter of a dirty deal" for South Jersey residents.

Tittel, representatives from five other environmental groups, and several area residents gathered to argue that the state's planned $225 million settlement would shortchange the town, which has two contaminated sites - an oil terminal on the Delaware River once operated by ExxonMobil and a nearby lube plant.

Environmentalists largely lamented that there is no guarantee any settlement money would go directly to Paulsboro for damages to natural resources and the loss of their use by the public.

"Not only are polluters responsible to clean up their messes, they're also responsible for damages," Tittel said. Paulsboro is "not going to see a penny out of this settlement."

State officials have maintained that the settlement - stemming from a North Jersey pollution case, and the largest natural resource damages settlement in state history - provides a definitive resolution to costly litigation that had no certain outcome.

In addition to the Bayonne and Linden refinery sites that prompted the settlement, the agreement resolves claims at 16 facilities, including the two in Paulsboro. Separately, ExxonMobil is bound to clean up the affected sites.

Leaks and spills at the 34-acre terminal site in Paulsboro, used for petroleum storage since the 1950s, have contaminated the groundwater with chemicals including benzene, toluene, and other volatile organic compounds, according to expert reports prepared for the state.

Paulsboro's public water supply also has been plagued by an unregulated chemical that has triggered health concerns. And in 2012, the borough dealt with a train derailment that unleashed toxic vinyl chloride in the air.

"Paulsboro, N.J., in more than one way has become a dumping ground," longtime resident Sonia Sheard, 37, said at the news conference. She advised the Christie administration to "not sell out Paulsboro" and to "go back to the bargaining table with Exxon."

A report on the terminal site in 2009 - done on behalf of the state - estimated "compensatory restoration" at the site to be $3.2 million. But Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin, in a May 8 letter to two legislators regarding the Paulsboro terminal site, noted that, following settlements reached with other companies deemed responsible at the site, ExxonMobil's compensation would likely be between $300,000 and $2.1 million.

If the individual cases for damages at the Paulsboro sites had been pursued and successful, environmentalists contend, the money could have been used to further benefit the environment in town - by, for example, restoring wetlands on the riverfront or creating parks.

It's not clear how much of the settlement money - which officials have said would not be available until 2016 at the earliest - would be allocated toward environmental programs. In addition to attorney fees, money could be directed to the state's general fund.

While the terms of the fiscal 2016 budget have not been established, the current appropriations act requires the first $50 million of such damages to go toward cleanup and directs remaining money to the general fund.

Larry Hajna, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, reiterated that the proposed settlement was historic and said no plans had been determined for use of the payout.

"We're keeping all of the state in mind when we're evaluating something at this scope and scale," he said, adding that the department would seek projects "that will be beneficial to the communities where these particular facilities were located."

The settlement has drawn critics, include legislators, with many pointing out that the state originally sought $8.9 billion in the North Jersey case. A judge will need to approve the settlement after the public comment period, which ends next Friday.