While the federal government is scaling back regulations on “forever chemicals,” New Jersey is holding polluters accountable, announcing a record-breaking $2 billion settlement with DuPont and several related companies with an $875 million payout and up to $1.2 billion in cleanup costs.
The deal, which follows a two-month-long trial, is touted by New Jersey officials as “the largest environmental settlement ever reached by a single American state.”
The settlement was reached with the parties after five hearings over the summer. Prior to the settlement, U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb, chief judge of the District of New Jersey, had set the case for a jury trial in the fall.
The deal holds DuPont and its related companies responsible for contamination at four sites: the Pompton Lakes Works in Pompton Lakes and Wanaque, Passaic County; the Parlin site in Sayreville, Middlesex County; the Repauno site in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County; and the Chambers Works in Pennsville and Carney’s Point, Salem County.
