New Jersey AG Sued ExxonMobil Over Illegal Dumping of Hazardous Waste

MARCH 7, 2019

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for contamination stemming from “industrial dumping activity” at the company’s 12-acre Lail property in Gloucester County, NJ. The lawsuit alleges that beginning in the 1950s, ExxonMobil “used the Lail property to dispose of drums containing petroleum products and other hazardous substances,” resulting in contamination of wetlands and waterways. Despite the removal of drums in the 1990s and remediation efforts in the late 2000s, recent inspections detected the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a class of chemicals known to cause reproductive, developmental, respiratory and dermatological issues in humans and animals. The lawsuit seeks natural resource damages for ongoing testing and remediation efforts.