Environmental groups hoping to have New Jersey's controversial $225 million settlement with Exxon Mobil Corp. rejected on appeal are going to have to come to court armed with more than just the argument that the state could and should have gotten more money, according to appellate and environmental attorneys.

Assuming they're even allowed to intervene, the coalition of four environmental groups challenging the settlement will have to demonstrate to the Appellate Division that retired Superior Court Judge Michael Hogan, who was appointed to preside over the litigation by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, so abused his discretion in approving the settlement reached between the company and the state Department of Environmental Protection that it must be rejected, the lawyers said.

The environmental groups—the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Environment New Jersey—filed a motion in Superior Court on Sept. 14 asking once again to intervene in the case. Hogan already has rejected that bid once before. A hearing is scheduled in Mount Holly for Sept. 22. (Read more about the groups' motion, as well as the state's response, here.)