New Jersey v. Delaware
New Jersey sued Delaware in the Supreme Court, invoking its original jurisdiction, to challenge Delaware's denial of a permit to the oil company BP to construct facilities on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. BP had planned to build a large natural gas loading facility for supertankers along the part of the Delaware River that forms a border between the two states. Delaware denied the permit because the construction would involve dredging underwater land within Delaware's boundaries in violation of Delaware state law. In 1935, the Supreme Court had issued a decree settling a boundary dispute between New Jersey and Delaware, involving a 1905 compact between the states. The 1935 opinion contains an extensive history of the states' competing claims to this territory, and a clause which enjoins New Jersey from ever disputing this claim again.
The Court appointed a special master to review the case and prepare an initial recommended decision; this case will probably not be resolved before the end of the 2005-2006 term.
Question Presented:
Whether a 1905 Compact between Delaware and New Jersey that authorizes each State "on its own side of" the Delaware River to "continue to exercise riparian jurisdiction of every kind and nature, and to make grants, leases, and conveyances of riparian lands and rights under the laws of the respective States," gives New Jersey "exclusive" riparian jurisdiction that prohibits Delaware from applying its coastal zone management laws to deny BP's proposal to construct a massive bulk transfer facility on Delaware's subaqueous lands.
Decision under Review (1935 Supreme Court decision on the 1905 compact)
