Following a sixty-six day bench trial, and before the judge ruled on the admissibility of the experts' testimony and rendered a verdict, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Exxon Mobil Corporation settled DEP's lawsuit seeking natural resource damages (NRD) caused by pollution at Exxon's refinery in Linden and facility in Bayonne. DEP provided public notice of the proposed consent order pursuant to N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11e2, and received 16,000 comments, mostly objections, including those of appellant State Senator Raymond Lesniak and appellants, a number of public interest environmental groups.
Before DEP responded to the comments, both appellants sought to intervene in the trial court; Judge Michael J. Hogan denied their motions without prejudice, and he permitted them to file opposition as amici and argue against the proposed settlement at a subsequent hearing. After Judge Hogan approved the settlement, appellants again sought to intervene for purposes of appeal. Judge Hogan denied their motions.
The court holds that a party must have standing before it can intervene at trial under our Court Rules. Because appellants cannot bring suit for NRD under the Spill Compensation and Control Act (the Spill Act), N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11 to 23.24, the Environmental Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:35A-1 to -14, or the common law, the court affirmed Judge Hogan's denial of their motions for intervention at trial.
However, because the Appellate Division alone can decide whether an appellant has standing to appeal, and because the environmental groups have standing to assert the public's interest in challenging DEP's decision to settle the lawsuit, the court considered the merits of Judge Hogan's decision to approve the settlement.
Applying the rationale of federal decisions interpreting the Spill Act's federal counterpart, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-675, the court concluded the appropriate standard of review is whether the judge mistakenly exercised his discretion in concluding the settlement was fair, reasonable, consistent with the Spill Act's goals, and in the public interest. The court affirmed Judge Hogan's approval of the settlement.