
Daniel T. McKillop
Partner
201-896-7115 dmckillop@sh-law.comFirm Insights
Author: Daniel T. McKillop
Date: September 25, 2020
Partner
201-896-7115 dmckillop@sh-law.comThe New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recently filed 12 new environmental enforcement actions involving alleged contamination in minority and lower-income communities. The suits are the latest in a series of environmental justice initiatives, which include the recent enactment of legislation aimed to protect environmental justice communities, such as those burdened with excessive and disproportionate exposure to pollution via power plants, trash incinerators and sewage-treatment plants.
“In New Jersey, we’re committed to our pathbreaking approach to environmental enforcement, which ensures that our efforts to clean up our environment will also serve our comprehensive justice agenda for low-income communities and communities of color,” Attorney General Grewal said in a press statement. “Today’s twelve lawsuits, filed in cities and towns across our state, are a reflection of that commitment to environmental justice principles. The scourge of COVID-19 has put a harsh spotlight on the way environmental injustices affect our basic health, and we’re going to do the hard work necessary to protect communities from dumping, contamination and other illegal activities. The message to New Jersey residents should be clear: everyone, and I really mean everyone, deserves to breathe clean air and live in a safe environment.”
As detailed in greater depth in prior articles, environmental enforcement has become a top priority for the Murphy Administration over the past two years. For the first time in a decade, New Jersey has filed lawsuits seeking to recover natural resource damages (NRD). To date, 11 such lawsuits have been filed.
The OAG and NJDEP have also filed dozens of environmental justice suits and launched a new “environmental justice” initiative designed to address pollution and environmental hazards in minority and lower-income communities across the state. The cases have been brought under numerous environmental laws, including the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act, Water Pollution Control Act, Air Pollution Control Act, Solid Waste Management Act, Industrial Site Recovery Act and Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act.
The latest suits involve contaminated sites in Newark, Orange, South Orange, Paterson, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Hillside, Fairton and Upper Deerfield Township. They allege a broad range of harmful contamination including such hazardous substances as arsenic, copper, lead, petroleum hydrocarbons, gasoline, waste motor oil, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), and semi-volatile organic compounds. As discussed further in a Fact Sheet published by the OAG and DEP, these actions include:
The 12 new environmental justice enforcement actions highlight that the Murphy Administration remains committed to addressing contamination in minority and lower-income communities. Property owners and others that may be responsible for pollution and other environmental hazards in such communities should be prepared for increased scrutiny. Given that the costs of remediation and related enforcement penalties, businesses should also be proactive and contact an experienced environmental law attorney with any concerns.
If you have any questions or if you would like to discuss the matter further, please contact me, Dan McKillop, or the Scarinci Hollenbeck attorney with whom you work, at 201-896-4100.
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