Milestones: 53 lawsuits make NJ polluters clean up

In 1983, in response to clean water violations across the state, NJPIRG filed its first Clean Water Act citizen enforcement cases on behalf of our members.

U.S. EPA | Public Domain

Of 3,000 violations, just 3 fines

The 1972 federal Clean Water Act set in motion a new system for protecting America’s waters. The government would set limits on pollution discharges. Companies would report their discharges. If they discharged more, say, benzene or heavy metals than their permits allowed, the government would impose a stiff fine and, if necessary, take away their permit.

By 1980, it was clear that the water in New Jersey was nowhere near achieving the law’s goal of being fishable and swimmable by 1983. An NJPIRG study pointed to a big factor in the failure: Of more than 3,000 documented clean water violations in the state, only 3% spurred any government action at all. The total number of cases resulting in fines? Three.

Yet the Clean Water Act itself offered a solution to the enforcement problem: When government fails to enforce the law, the Act grants citizens the right to sue polluters to compel action.

Staff | TPIN
NJPIRG streamwalkers protest illegal discharge at Morses Creek.

Creative solutions, a willingness to try them

In 1983, NJPIRG’s senior attorney, Ed Lloyd, led a team of lawyers in filing, on behalf of our members, our first 15 Clean Water Act citizen enforcement cases, against such companies as Monsanto for its illegal discharges into the Delaware River.

By 1985, NJPIRG Executive Director Ken Ward noted the opportunity the organization had to help make New Jersey a leader: “Our severe environmental problems are an incentive both for creative solutions and for a public willingness to try them out.”

Over the next decade, under Ken’s and Ed’s leadership, the number of successful NJPIRG citizen suits filed to enforce the Clean Water Act would rise to 53, including cases against Exxon, Chevron and Georgia-Pacific. In each case, court rulings or settlements among the parties resulted in a stop to illegal pollution and a payment of penalties — totaling $32 million, much of which funded local environmental projects.

Staff | TPIN
Ed Lloyd (NJPIRG Legal Counsel) files lawsuit against a water polluter.

These cases broke new ground, including the first citizen suit under the Clean Water Act to result in a summary judgment (the Monsanto case), the first to uphold the constitutionality of the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act (Monsanto again), the first to win a preliminary injunction against further violations (a case against Top Notch Metal Finishing), and the first cases to impose the maximum penalty of $10,000 per violation (the Monsanto, Hercules and Powell Duffryn Terminals cases).

And the staff of the nation’s top law enforcement official — Attorney General Janet Reno — recognized NJPIRG for winning more of these cases than any other citizen group in the country.

The citizen enforcement model worked. And it would soon be replicated across the country.

Staff | TPIN
NJPIRG’s Ken Ward.
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