Stop saying Exxon is only paying $225 Million. You’re lying.

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

I’ve already chastised the hopelessly and transparently biased NYT for misreporting this story, Save Jerseyans, so I’ll try to avoid repeating myself.

The key takeaway points? (1) Leading critics cited a settlement of this approximate size as a GOOD outcome back when Democrats controlled the governor’s mansion; and (2) this widely-debated/circulated $225 million figure is ON TOP OF the actual remediation costs (translated: extra $$$ – an agreement was in place to do so going back to the early 1990s).

Governor Chris Christie broke it down, yet again, at Tuesday’s Somerset County town hall:

Here’s some historical context, courtesy of the Front Office:

· At $225 million, the ExxonMobil settlement is far and away the largest NRD settlement payment negotiated by a single corporate defendant – ever.

· The all-time 20 other largest NRD settlements with similar such awards have only averaged $25.2 million.

· The 8 largest settlements of all-time were all negotiated under the Christie Administration.

· The 13 largest settlements negotiated before the Christie Administration averaged only $4.19 million. (See the chart below)

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

5 Comments

  1. as you stated remediation was already agreed upon this figure is substantially lower than what the state was in line to receive you can spin it anyway you want but the fact of the matter is this coupled with the oddly convenient language in the budget that allows him to use this money for the general fund smells worse than Bayway after exxon got through with it.

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