The oil refineries of northern New Jersey have been the butt of late-night jokes, created the moody backdrop for Bruce Springsteen songs, and were the subject of an $8.9 billion lawsuit by the state seeking damages for the loss of land to the public dating back a more than a century.
The 1,300 acre Bayway Refinery in Linden, New Jersey, now run by Phillips 66, was opened by Standard Oil in 1909. Standard Oil later became ExxonMobil. A report prepared for the state found that over the last 100 years, 7 million gallons of oil have spilled and seeped into the ground. Between the Bayway and Bayonne refineries, 600 different contaminants have been found in the soil.
Next to the Bayway Refinery is Morses Creek, which bisects the site. On one side of the shore are white storage tanks and steel towers. But on the other side there are signs of life: fresh deer tracks and a flock of Canada Geese.
Debbie Mans, the Executive Director of NY/NJ Baykeeper, pointed at the snowed-over creek, which the report describes as a lagoon used for dumping waste.
"These are not just one-time spills, these are spills and leaks and ruptures of pipelines for years and years and years," she said. "When we think about the Exxon Valdez spills, sites like these are even worse with the amount of contamination over time."
Nearby is a racially diverse, blue-collar neighborhood made up of one- and two-story homes with driveways and small yards. Oil tankers rumbled by in a steady procession.
At Linden School Number 2, Miranda Griffin picked up her 8-year-old daughter Maya. Griffin admited she'd like to live somewhere else, but LInden is where she can afford the rent.
"I don’t think it's really healthy, I know some of the fumes around here are horrible," she said. "When it's hot in the summer we got to keep the windows closed."
The mayor of Linden, Derek Armstead, said he was "shocked and outraged" when he heard the state had settled for $225 million. His family has lived in the town for over 90 years and Armstead said his father would tell stories about hunting and fishing in the area. "You just can’t do that anymore," he said.
Armstead wants to see the waterways and marshes around the refineries restored, which the state's report estimated would cost $2.5 billion.
"I’m sure we can’t get them to their original status, but we can sure try. That would be ideal," he said.
Gov. Chris Christie assured residents at a recent town hall that ExxonMobil will still pay for a clean-up.
"How much is this going to cost ultimately to them? I don't know, but here's the thing, neither do they, because we're the ones that ultimately decide either it's cleaned up or it's not cleaned-up and they have to keep going until we say it's cleaned up," he said.
But it’s not clear what kind of clean-up the governor has in mind.
Since 1991, ExxonMobil has been conducting clean-up or remediation at the site under a consent order from the state. A spokesman for ExxonMobil wrote that the company has spent $260 million at the two sites and will "continue with the clean-up until the state is satisfied."
Environmentalists fear the terms of the recent settlement will allow ExxonMobil to continue its "remediation" rather than a full "restoration," which is what the suit was seeking.
Remediation is often referred to as "pave and wave," — the company is allowed to cover up the mess, pave over it ensuring nothing leaks out, and walk away. Morses Creek would become little more than a parking lot. A full restoration is far more costly, but could mean that the salt water marshes could one day be home to a thriving ecosystem again.
The details of the settlement will be released next month, followed by a 30-day comment period. A judge could still reject the entire deal.