Township of Voorhees v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

This case is an illustration of Murphy’s Law of unintended consequences.1 A fund created to compensate the innocent victims of past unsafe landfill practices has been transformed into a windfall for dump owners.

In 1977, Voorhees Township purchased the Buzby Brothers Landfill for $1.00. The previous owners, the Buzbys and others, had discharged solid waste at this facility and, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11 to -23.24 (the Spill Act), Voorhees is or may be jointly or severally liable to clean up the site. The Buzby Landfill is a notorious site that has housed large amounts of environmentally…