All New Jerseyans deserve to live in clean, safe environments and polluters have been put on notice that they will be held accountable if they fail to properly dispose of materials harmful to our environment.
Mitigating PFAS contamination. Attorney General Platkin and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reached a $393 million proposed settlement with Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC (Solvay) that would ensure the remediation of contamination, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and compensate the public for natural resource damages (NRDs) in the vicinity of Solvay’s facility in West Deptford, Gloucester County. PFAS substances – also called “forever chemicals” – are manufactured substances desired for their ability to repel water and oil and contain fuel fires, and were commonly used to make products like Teflon® and Scotchgard®. Highly resistant to environmental degradation and known to accumulate in the human body, PFAS are associated with serious adverse health effects such as decreased vaccine response. The settlement is the first of its kind to address PFAS contamination in New Jersey.
Targeting environmental polluters in overburdened communities. Begun under the Murphy Administration in 2018, this initiative seeks to remedy past inequities in environmental law enforcement affecting communities of color, low-income communities, low-English-proficiency communities, and those subject to cumulative environmental stressors. Attorney General Platkin and DEP worked together to file lawsuits that focus on requiring responsible parties to clean up contamination in these communities and recovering costs DEP incurred in addressing that contamination. In April 2023, eight environmental lawsuits were filed targeting polluters across the State whose toxic legacies continued to threaten public health, safety, and the environment. In September 2023, a number of cases were settled including a court ruling which held two dozen defendants accountable for an egregious statewide illegal waste dumping scheme centered in Newark and required the remediation of an unauthorized solid waste landfill Pennsauken Creek; the shutdown of unsafe wells and the drilling of new wells to provide safe drinking water for migrant workers and their families housed on the Blueberry Bill Farms in Hammonton; and the remediation of harmful soil and groundwater contamination emanating from underground gas storage tanks at Monk’s Amoco in Camden. Enforcement actions seeking to hold polluters accountable in overburdened New Jersey communities were also pursued related to PCE and TCE contamination in Newark and Haledon and related to
groundwater contamination from a gasoline station in Metuchen.
Preserving New Jersey’s natural resources. In 2023, DCA along with DEP filed a lawsuit against Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Ferro Corporation (Ferro), and Vulcan Materials Company (Vulcan) for contaminating New Jersey’s environment with 1,4-dioxane. The lawsuit seeks to hold these companies accountable for knowingly and willfully manufacturing, promoting, and/or selling products containing 1,4-dioxane, which is highly toxic and persistent, and caused harm to the State’s natural resources. The suit alleges both environmental and consumer fraud claims and seek NRDs, punitive damages, and other damages and penalties.
Using criminal enforcement to secure justice. A Long Island man was indicted in connection with a deadly May 2022 fire at a Waste Management facility in Elizabeth, which resulted in the death of a facility employee. The owner of a trucking and warehouse business was charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter as well as numerous environmental hazardous waste charges. According to the indictment, on or about May 10, 2022, the owner unlawfully disposed of over 9,000 pounds of extremely flammable dry shampoo aerosol cans into a dumpster in Linden. The dumpster was subsequently transported to the Waste Management facility on Julia Street in Elizabeth. Within minutes of the aerosol cans being dumped out of the dumpster at the facility, a multiple-alarm fire broke out and resulted in the death of facility worker.
