Tiny N.J. township wins appeal to pursue $1 billion cleanup lawsuit over toxic waste

Carneys Point Township can move forward with its effort to recover what the town says could exceed $1 billion in cleanup costs.

A two-judge appellate panel upheld the township’s right to pursue its 2016 lawsuit against several chemical makers, which alleges the companies violated New Jersey’s cleanup laws after releasing more than 100 million pounds of hazardous waste into the environment.

The dispute centers on Chambers Works, a sprawling industrial complex along the Delaware River that for decades was a hub of chemical manufacturing.

The lawsuit names E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, its former remediation director Sheryl A. Telford, The Chemours Company, and The Chemours Company FC, LLC, which took over the Chambers Works site in a corporate spinoff.

The facility produced per-