Gangrene [If the limiter! garden
Maeliingtuu, 4116 211515

April 13, 2015

NJ DEP

Attn: Exxon Mobil Bayway Comments]
P.O. Box 420 Mail Code 
"Trenton, NJ. 08625-0420

To whom it may concern,

We are writing to express our strong concerns with the Christie Administration?s proposed
settlement in the State?s lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corporation for the company?s
contamination of two oil re?neries. If approved, we believe that this settlement would be wholly
inadequate in properly restoring the sites and compensating the State ofNew Jersey for decades
of rampant pollution.

For more than a century, oil refineries now owned by Exxon have discharged more than 600
hazardous chemicals over more than 1,500 acres oflands held in the public trust in northern New
Jersey, including wetlands, marshes, and meadows. These same facilities contaminated our
ground water and dumped hazardous waste into our ponds and streams. The ecological health of
our natural environment has been ruined and will require decades and billions of dollars to not
just restore the lands but compensate the public for the loss use and damage from the oil spills.
Expert report compiled for the State by Stratus Consulting Inc. of Colorado and Toxicological 
Environmental Associates Inc. of Alabama assessed the cost of undoing of more than 100 years
of pollution at the Bayonne and Linden refineries at $8.9 billion, indicating that it would require
$2.5 billion to restore the sites and an additional $6.4 ?to compensate for the decades of harm.?

Despite the fact that the State Attorney General?s office was seeking a nearly $9 billion
settlement, the Christie Administration opted for a settlement of$225 million in damages 
roughly three cents on the dollar and does not require Exxon to fully restore the land to its
original condition. The proposed settlement also includes 16 additional sites not included in the
original lawsuit. The residents of the c0ntaminated areas deserve to have the sites cleaned up,
the natural resources there restored, and an assurance that political in?uence did not
inappropriately impact this settlement.

Finally, we are concerned about the prospect ofsettlement funds being diverted away from their
intended use and instead transferred into the State?s general fund to balance the budget. As you
know. New Jersey state law allows the transfer of any recovered funds in excess of$50 million
to the state general fund. In 2013, Governor Christie redirected $147.5 million ofthe $165
million settlement between the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and
Occidental Chemical Corporation over toxic pollution in the Passaic River into the general fund.

ON RECYCLED PAPER

Reversing the damage done to the natural resources surrounding Exxon?s Bayway and Bayonne
Operations will be a dif?cult but important undertaking. However, we do not believe that the
settlement proposed by the Christie Administration will achieve this important goal. We urge
you to ensure that any settlement includes suf?cient funds to restore the lands that these
re?neries have destroyed.

Thank you for consideration of this matter.

  

 

 

 

Sincerely,
Bill Pascrell, . Frank Pallone, Jr.
Member of Congress Member of Congress


bio Sires Donald Norcross
Member of Congress Member of Congress

   

onnie Wa son Coleman
Member of Congress