This summer, the New Jersey Supreme Court clarified the right of a private party conducting an environmental remediation to immediately pursue claims against others believed to be responsible for the contamination at issue. In Magic Petroleum Corp. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 218 N.J. 390 (2014), the court reversed a 2011 Appellate Division decision concluding that a company or individual responsible for cleaning up contaminated property must await state approval of its cleanup plan before suing others who are also believed to have discharged hazardous substances, contributing to the need for environmental remediation.

The case concerned the remediation of soil and groundwater contamination emanating from gasoline station operations in Millstone Township, N.J. At issue were two neighboring gas stations with competing theories of which one caused the regional petroleum contamination. One station was previously owned by ExxonMobil, and the other was operated by Magic Petroleum. When the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) filed administrative actions against Magic to compel the company to conduct environmental remediation, Magic initiated a lawsuit against Exxon. The lawsuit alleged that Exxon was in fact responsible for most of the cleanup costs as a result of its petroleum discharges under the contribution provision of New Jersey’s Spill Compensation and Control Act (Spill Act), N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11f(a)(2). That provision entails a private right of action whereby multiple parties responsible for environmental “cleanup and removal” costs may seek contribution from one another depending on their respective shares of liability.

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