Accountability
Hess consent judgment puts Arthur Kill claims on hold until a formal damage assessment, and only in a multi-defendant suit
The Hess consent judgment carves the Arthur Kill and lower Smith Creek out of the $19.5 million natural resource damages settlement for the former Port Reading refinery. That is where the State says the 1969 spill went. The State can’t sue over those waters until a formal damage assessment is done, any such suit must name multiple defendants, and Hess can argue a 2013 Occidental settlement already covered them. The Oct. 5 announcement didn’t mention the assessment condition or the Occidental defense.