Recoveries Total More than $1 Billion over Two Years

TRENTON — Civil enforcement efforts recouped nearly $430 million for the State of New Jersey in 2024, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today, due to successful settlements involving environmental cases, consumer issues, taxation matters, and debt recovery actions.

“On my watch, New Jersey has continued to lead the way in protecting our residents from harm and holding bad actors accountable when they violate the law. We’ve stopped scams, halted questionable business practices, and made polluters pay—and in the process we’ve returned hundreds of millions of dollars back to the State and our residents,” said Attorney General Platkin. “These results translate into a better quality of life for all New Jerseyans. I will always fight to make sure that costly and damaging misconduct is corrected, whether that stems from polluters, consumer fraud, or others who engage in unlawful business practices.”

“Thanks to Attorney General Platkin’s leadership, we are seeing the benefits of pursuing rigorous accountability on behalf of the taxpayers of the State,” said Michael C. Walters, Acting Director of the Division of Law. “The Division of Law attorneys and the rest of our staff are dedicated to achieving the best possible outcomes for our communities.”

The $429,957,682 in recoveries builds on the nearly $600 million recovered the year prior, for a total of more than $1 billion for New Jersey over the past two years.

The amount recovered by the State reflects orders or settlements obtained by the State. It does not reflect other forms of relief obtained in some of those matters that directly benefit victims, such as restitution for defrauded consumers or investors, balance forgiveness, and/or debt relief

These are the cases that resulted in the top 10 recoveries made by the Division of Law in 2024.

1.   Solvay West Deptford Plant PFAS—Chemical company Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC, paid $179.8 million for remedial projects and natural resource damages as a result of contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, often known as “forever chemicals”) and other hazardous substances at the company’s Gloucester County facility. The cash payment is an addition to Solvay’s agreement to complete necessary environmental cleanup at the facility, which is backed by a remedial funding source established in the amount of $214 million. The settlement was the first of its kind to address PFAS contamination in New Jersey.

2.   Orsted Offshore Wind Settlement—The State and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and Orsted resolved their claims related to the company’s abandonment of two offshore wind projects, and the State received $125 million.

3.   Johnson & Johnson—New Jersey will receive over $30 million as part of this $700 million nationwide settlement with Johnson & Johnson to resolve allegations related to the marketing of talc-based baby powder and body powder products.

4.   MTBE Multidistrict Litigation—The State resolved claims with Gulf Oil and received $18.5 million in compensation for contamination of groundwater throughout the State with the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).

5.   Handy & Harman—This case involved groundwater contamination in Montvale and resulted in the closure of nearby drinking water wells. New Jersey received $14 million from Handy & Harman and Cycle Chem as compensation for natural resource damages and reimbursement for the State’s past cleanup costs.

6.   Publicis Health, Inc.—The State received nearly $9.5 million in this nationwide settlement, which resolved investigations into the global marketing and communications firm’s role in the prescription opioid crisis.

7.   TS Employment, Inc.—The State successfully filed a bankruptcy claim for over $4.8 million against TS Employment, Inc., a professional employer organization, which failed to file payroll returns and remit over $100 million in withholding taxes to federal and state taxing authorities.

8.   Morgan Stanley—This was a qui tam, or whistleblower, action filed under the False Claims Act. The suit alleged that Morgan Stanley underpriced and manipulatively profited from bonds it underwrote for the State, which recovered approximately $5 million.

9.   Endo International plc—As part of the company’s bankruptcy reorganization in the Southern District of New York, the State of New Jersey received over $4 million to resolve longstanding allegations that Endo contributed to the opioid epidemic by boosting opioid sales through deceptive marketing practices that downplayed the risk of addiction and overstated the drugs’ benefits.

10. Transcanada Power Marketing LTD­—This company, a marketer and broker of electric power at wholesale and retail, settled a corporate business tax case brought by the State for $3 million.

Separately, litigation-related settlements and judgments paid by the State in 2024 totaled approximately $177.9 million, higher than the $121.5 million paid in 2023.