Judge rejects greens’ intervention in Chris Christie’s Exxon settlement

A New Jersey judge has rejected a plea from environmental groups to intervene in a pollution settlement Gov. Chris Christie (R) negotiated.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, the New Jersey Sierra Club and others asked to step in to argue against court approval of Christie’s $225 million settlement with Exxon Mobil Corp. for polluting more than a dozen sites across the state.

{mosads}Exxon Mobil had been charged with environmental violations worth up to $8.9 billion, but agreed to settle for far less earlier this year in a deal that Christie, a presidential candidate, helped reach. The settlement is subject to court approval.

In rejecting the intervention, Judge Michael Hogan said the green groups’ participating would “unduly delay” the case’s closure, and they had not sufficiently proven that the state was derelict in its duties to protect the public, NJ.com reported.

“They have not demonstrated collusion, nonfeasance, or lack of notice of the opportunity for public comments,” Hogan wrote Monday.

The environmental groups knew their request was unlikely, but were nonetheless disappointed.

“The affected New Jersey communities deserve a voice in this fight,” Margaret Brown, an NRDC attorney, said in a statement. “Gov. Christie and his administration should not let this multibillion-dollar oil corporation off the hook for the damages it rightfully owes the people of this state — and can well afford to pay.”