On Monday, January 26, 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its much anticipated opinion in Morristown Associates v. Grant Oil Co., ___ N.J. ___ (2015), unanimously holding that the general six-year statute of limitations applicable to injury to real property does not apply to private contribution claims under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act (“Spill Act”), N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11f(a)(2)(a).

In reaching its holding, the Court refused to look beyond the intent of the New Jersey Legislature as evidenced by the plain language of the Spill Act. Simply put, the Court reasoned that when the Legislature amended the Spill Act in 1991 to allow parties conducting clean up to seek contribution from other responsible parties, it limited a contribution defendant’s defenses to “war, sabotage, governmental negligence, God, or a third party or a combination therefof.” N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11f(a)(2)(a), citing N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11g(d). Since this enumerated list of defenses does not include statute of limitations, and since no other section of the Spill Act either includes or excludes a statute of limitations for contribution claims, no statute of limitations applies under the plain language of the Spill Act.

The Court stressed the broad remedial nature of the Spill Act and its effect over parties responsible for discharges of hazardous substances to the land and waters of the state. In doing so, the Court reasoned that the Legislature could not have intended for responsible dischargers to escape culpability through the application of an unreferenced statute of limitations. According to the Court, if its interpretation of the defenses to Spill Act contribution liability is not correct, then it is up to the Legislature to correct this error.