"The New Jersey Supreme Court has upheld a controversial $225 million settlement between the state and ExxonMobil that was challenged by environmental groups that said it was far too low for the damage caused by the oil giant.
The ruling allows Gov. Phil Murphy's administration to collect the funds and possibly divert more than half to balance the budget, with only $50 million slated to restore wetlands in Linden and Bayonne, where the oil giant dumped chemicals for almost a century.
Gov. Chris Christie's administration approved the settlement in 2015 after the state originally sought $8.9 billion. Environmental groups that had challenged the settlement were blindsided in March when the Murphy administration filed papers with the state Supreme Court to block their appeal."
