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No. v_(9
II Date of Adoptio June 7, 2012
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF THE
LETTER TO STATE SENATORS AND ASSEMBLYMEN IN
THE ACTION ENTITLED NJDEP v. OCCIDENTAL
CHEMICAL CORPORATION. ET AL.
WHEREAS, certain claims have been asserted against the Borough of Carteret in
the action entitled NJDEP v Occidental Chemical Corporation, et al., Docket No. ESX-
L- 9868 -05 pending in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County (the "Litigation ")
regarding alleged environmental contamination at the lower 17 miles of the Passaic
River, Newark Bay, the lower reaches of the Hackensack River, the Arthur Kill, the Kill
Van Kull, and into adjacent waters and sediments(the "Newark Bay Complex ");
WHEREAS, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the
Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the
Administrator of the New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund (hereinafter referred to
collectively as the "State of New Jersey ") commenced the present litigation on or around
December 13, 2005, suing defendants, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Tierra
Solutions, Inc., Maxus Energy Corporation, Repsol YPF, S.A., YPF, S.A., YPF
Holdings, Inc. and CLH Holdings (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "Tierra -
Maxus Defendants ");
WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey's Complaint seeks to recover from the
Tierra -Maxus Defendants past and future cleanup and removal costs, as well as
unspecified economic damages, punitive damages, damages for alleged "unjust
enrichment," penalties and a variety of other forms of relief purportedly arising from the
alleged discharges into the Passaic River of 2, 3,7,8- tetraclrlorodibenzo -p- dioxin (a form
of dioxin referred to as "TCDD ") and other unspecified "hazardous substances" from a
plant that operated at 80 Lister Avenue in Newark, New Jersey for approximately twenty
years before the plant was closed in 1969.
WHEREAS, in its Complaint, the State has alleged that as a direct result of the
Tierra -Maxus Defendants' intentional releases and discharges into the Passaic River, and
the Tierra -Maxus Defendants' subsequent practice of obfuscation and delay for another
twenty -plus years, TCDD has migrated throughout Newark Bay Complex;
WHEREAS, on or around February 4, 2009, defendants, Maxus Energy
Corporation and Tierra Solutions, Inc. filed a third -parry complaint against approximately
eighty -five (85) municipalities and public entities including the Borough of Carteret for
contribution towards the cleanup and removal costs that Maxus and Tierra have incurred
or will incur in the future relating to the Newark Bay Complex.
WHEREAS, certain Third -Party Defendant municipalities and public entities,
including the Borough of Carteret, are members of a group known as the Municipal
Group in the Litigation;
WHEREAS, the Borough has incurred and continues to incur significant legal
and transactional fees in connection with this Litigation;
PAGE 2
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the
Borough of Carteret as follows:
1. The Borough is hereby authorized and d to sign the signature pages .
of the Letter to the its State Senator and Assemblymen, which will be adopted in
substantially the form contained in the draft copy on file, and thereafter immediately
transmit the said signature pages to Peter J. King, Esq., Liaison Counsel for the
Municipal Group.
Adopted this 7th day of June, 2012
and certified as a true copy of
the original on June 8, 2012.
KATHLEEN M. BARNEY, MMC
Municipal Clerk
RECORD OF COUNCIL VOTE
x
X
STTPRZ I X
(' - X - Indicate Vote An - Absent NV - Not Voting XOR - Indicates Vote to Overtuie Veto I
Adopted at a meeting of the Municipal Council