The Exxon Sell Ou...I Mean Settlement......

[Laxman]

Last edited Thu Mar 5, 2015, 01:58 PM - Edit history (1)

just got a bit more interesting. Why do you suppose the governor's office stepped in to interfere with the work of the career environmental prosecutors in this instance? I'm sure there must be a good answer, right?

Christie’s Office Drove Exxon Settlement, Ex-Official Says

For more than a decade, the New Jersey attorney general’s office conducted a hard-fought legal battle to hold Exxon Mobil Corporation responsible for decades of environmental contamination in northern New Jersey.

But when the news came that the state had reached a deal to settle its $8.9 billion claim for about $250 million, the driving force behind the settlement was not the attorney general’s office — it was Gov. Chris Christie’s chief counsel, Christopher S. Porrino, two people familiar with the negotiations said.

One of those people, Bradley M. Campbell, was the commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection in 2004 when the lawsuits against Exxon were filed. Mr. Campbell, in an Op-Ed article appearing in The New York Times on Thursday, wrote that “even more troubling” than the decision to settle the lawsuit were “the circumstances surrounding the decision.”

He goes on to say that former colleagues of his in the state government told him that Mr. Porrino “inserted himself into the case, elbowed aside the attorney general and career employees who had developed and prosecuted the litigation, and cut the deal favorable to Exxon.”

The settlement, first reported by The Times on Friday, came two months after the attorney general’s office, in a court brief, argued vigorously for $8.9 billion in damages, saying, “The scope of the environmental damage resulting from the discharges is as obvious as it is staggering and unprecedented in New Jersey.”

Read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/nyregion/christies-office-took-over-exxon-settlement-ex-official-says.html?ref=nyregion

Thank God someone was looking out for the interests of the poor beleaguered mega corporation who made billions polluting the land in the first place. I mean you wouldn't want fairness or justice to break out-that might cause chaos!

[Fred Sanders]

1. A REAL scandal involving corruption, a Republican and Corporate billions of dollars, is not newsworthy......what about Hillary's emails?

[Laxman]

2. Quite Right Fred....

perhaps if we planted the rumor that the gun that killed Vince Foster (with Hillary's fingerprints on it) is at the bottom of one of those sludge lagoons it would be cleaned up inside of a week.

[2naSalit]

11. [phone]! n/t

[hobbit709]

3. You had it right the first time.

[Beach Rat]

4. I guess its a good sign when the political posturing starts

I don't trust Sweeney. But this has certainly stirred up a hornet's nest.

Stepping up his criticism of a controversial settlement in a decade-old pollution suit, state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) yesterday vowed to scuttle a reported agreement that would allow Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay only $250 million instead of the $8.9 billion the state originally sought.

In an interview with editors and reporters of NJ Spotlight in Trenton, Sweeney pledged to fight the proposed settlement in any way possible, including through the courts and possibly by overriding language in the current state budget that would allow up to 80 percent of the settlement money in pollution cases to be diverted to the general fund.

“We’re not going to let him do what’s he’s (Gov. Chris Christie's) done with the Exxon settlement,’’ Sweeney told NJ Spotlight in an interview in the Statehouse. Both the Assembly and Senate are expected to pass resolutions allowing the Legislature to intervene in the case, he said.

The proposed settlement, first disclosed by The New York Times, angered environmentalists, local officials, and other lawmakers who have promised to fight the agreement in court, if necessary. It is fast becoming a major political football.

Also yesterday, the Assembly Judiciary announced it would hold a hearing on the proposed settlement, which has yet to be publicly disclosed, in two weeks.

“The reported settlement is appalling and disturbing,’’ said Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex), the chairman of the committee. “The Christie administration appears more interested in rewarding Exxon Mobil -- for whatever reason -- than protecting taxpayers and our environment.’’

The case, first filed in 2004 under the administration of then-Gov. Jim McGreevey and pursued by successive administrations, accused Exxon of polluting 1,500 acres of wetlands and marshes in waters surrounding refineries it once operated in Linden and Bayonne.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/03/04/sweeney-pledges-to-stop-christie-from-scaling-back-exxon-mobil-settlement/#

[Laxman]

13. I Don't Trust Sweeney Either....

he's been Christie's best friend in the state senate. He's also running for governor. I guess I shouldn't care what his motivations are. Anything that will tend to shed light on this cesspool should be welcome-I guess.

[cheyanne]

5. Christie just bought himself a presidential campaign -

if not 2016 then 2020. . .BP won't forget . . .if Christie loses his next election, BP will make sure that he is comfortably ensconced in a corporate sinecure . . .

[Rex]

6. This is what happens when the GOP controls the flow of information.

They get away with murder.

[malaise]

7. Christie is history

This scumbag will soon end up in prison - follow the money

[srican69]

8. The Bastard has just given away 9 MM of NJ tax payers money to an Oil Company

on the other hand he killed the rail tunnel to NYC that was being largely funded by Federal govt on the grounds that NJ would be on the hook for cost overruns


Shame on us New Jersians for having voted the bastard into power. Twice.

I hate the bastard more than anyone right now.

[Laxman]

9. Hey, What's $9 Billion Between Friends.....

it was the least he could do for the nice company that gave so much to the RGA. Besides, he had to help out his old pal Lori Griffa to look like she was valuable to her new employer and his former Deputy Chief of Staff is lobbying for them-he's just a great guy.

By the way-that's quite a claim-do you hate him more than you hate anyone else or do think you hate Christie more than anyone else hates Christie?

[Laxman]

10. For Those Interested In Original Documents....

here are some excerpts from the filings in the case. The state has a VERY strong case to support it's claim for damages.





The state's "primary restoration plan" was estimated to cost $2.63 billion. The consulting firm hired by the state also recommended an additional $6.4 billion to restore enough wetland and forestland "to compensate for the decades of harm at the two facilities."

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/documents_read_excerpts_from_the_states_case_again.html#incart_river

[2naSalit]

12. No Doubt!

Have you ever seen that place? It's visible from nearly everywhere in North Jersey. I used to work from a terminal on the other side of the Turnpike... It's probably one of the biggest (ought to be) Superfund sites on the planet. And the Meadowlands was built on a swatch of the chemdump that is the huge swampland that is so polluted it's hard to recognize that there was ever anything but a chemical dump there.

Here's some info from RMS last night... I had to wait until after 11pm Mountain for them to post the show, I hate the new format.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/christies-office-guided-controversial-exxon-settlement

[Cha]

14. Handy Graphic.. "How much do you think Christie got under the table?"

Donna NoShock @NoShock
Follow
He thinks he's politically untouchable. The media wants to talk about scandals where here is a real scandal.
4:38 AM - 5 Mar 2015

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/05/early-bird-chat-462/#comments

[Laxman]

15. I Fear We Will Never Know The Answer....

Last edited Thu Mar 5, 2015, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

to that question. But thanks for posting it just the same! It's like we're playing Christie Limbo-how low can he go? No matter how far down you put the bar he manages to squeeze underneath.

this must be getting traction because the local newspaper now has a snappy little graphic!

[Cha]

18. "Christie limbo.. how low can he go".. Perfect. Here's to it miraculousy having "Legs", Laxman..TY!

[Laxman]

16. This Is The Stuff That Earns Pulitzer Prizes.....

for dogged reporters! Sorry to keep updating my thread but this just came out from Matt Katz of WNYC. Probably worthy of its own original post. I encourage you to read the entire article. I find it most troubling that Mr. Porrino represented Solomon Dweck-the now jailed informant who Christie relied on for his questionable operation bid rig investigation.

Christie Aide Took Political Trip Before Exxon Settlement

Gov. Chris Christie's chief counsel, Christopher Porrino, allegedly intervened in an $8.9 billion environmental lawsuit to get a better deal for Exxon Mobil, which funded a political group that flew Christie and Porrino around the country last year.

On the day before Election Day Christie criss-crossed five states on a private plane supplied by the Republican Governors Association, which he chaired. He brought along his inner circle for this final leg of a long campaign season -- including Porrino, one his one of his two highest ranking governmental aides.

The private jet that whisked them from Utica, Michigan, to New London, New Hampshire, and beyond was funded by the more than $100 million that Christie raised that year from RGA donors. Of that $500,000 came from Exxon Mobil, which was the 13th biggest contributor out of more than 1,300 people and corporations that gave to the RGA while Christie was chairman.

Less than a year later, according to an explosive new accusation by a former state environmental commissioner, Porrino intervened in an ongoing lawsuit between the state of New Jersey and Exxon Mobil, which was being sued to pay for extensive contamination at sites on 1,500 acres in Linden and Bayonne. Just as a judge was about to rule on how much Exxon would have to pay, Christie's attorney general asked the judge to delay a verdict because the state had suddenly settled with the company for a pittance of the money sought -- just $250 million, according to The New York Times.

read the rest here: http://bit.ly/1G1iaVd

[Cha]

19. No need to be "sorry" for updating your thread.. Thank YOu!

[Laxman]

17. Apparently We Gave Christie Too Much Credit......

seems the settlement was even less than we thought it was going to be! This has been a big day for news on this story.

N.J. pollution settlement from Exxon is $225 million; less than first reported

New Jersey announced today that it has settled an environmental damage claim against Exxon Mobil Corp. for $225 million, $25 million less than originally reported last week and far less than the $8.9 billion it had originally sought.

State officials called the $225 million figure the single largest environmental settlement with a corporate defendant in state history.

The settlement follows a lawsuit the state filed 11 years ago against Exxon Mobil for damage to the environment and natural resources caused by contamination of more than 1,500 acres of wetlands from the company’s refinery operations in Bayonne and Linden, as well as from company service stations and other facilities throughout the state.

The settlement was announced today by Acting State Attorney General John J. Hoffman and Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

When the New York Times originally reported last week that the settlement was $250 million, it drew withering criticism from many legislators and environmentalists because the state had sought $8.9 billion and the settlement came just before a state Superior Court judge was set to rule on the amount Exxon would be penalized.

The vast gap between what the state originally sought and what it settled for raised questions about the involvement of the Christie Administration in the case, since the governor, eyeing a presidential bid, has drawn heavily from the fossil fuel industry for money to boost his national stature.

Bradley M. Campbell, who launched the Exxon case in 2004 as former head of the New Jersey DEP, said in an opinion piece published today in the New York Times that former colleagues in state government told him that Governor Christie’s chief counsel, Christopher Porrino, “inserted himself into the case, elbowed aside the attorney general and career employees who had developed and prosecuted the litigation, and cut the deal favorable to Exxon.”

In his opinion piece, Campbell called the settlement “an embarrassment to law enforcement and good government,” and that it is “a disgrace.”

http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-pollution-settlement-from-exxon-is-225-million-less-than-first-reported-1.1283417

[Cha]

20. Shortchanging New Jersey by Billions.. Chris Christie’s Exxon Settlement Is Bad for New Jersey

THE decision by the administration of Gov. Chris Christie to settle an environmental lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corporation for roughly three cents on the dollar after more than a decade of litigation is an embarrassment to law enforcement and good government.

Even more troubling are the circumstances surrounding the decision, which recently came to light. As a judge deliberated whether to assess the $8.9 billion in damages New Jersey sought, the administration stepped in and agreed to take about $250 million and settle the case.

Former colleagues of mine in state government, where I served as commissioner of environmental protection from 2002 to 2006, have told me that Mr. Christie’s chief counsel inserted himself into the case, elbowed aside the attorney general and career employees who had developed and prosecuted the litigation, and cut the deal favorable to Exxon.

MOre.. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/opinion/chris-christies-exxon-settlement-is-bad-for-new-jersey.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Just saw this, Laxman..