In 1976, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP; successor to the Dept. of Health) filed a lawsuit against Ventron and other parties for violating the recently-enacted "New Jersey Water Quality Improvement Act of 1971." The state enacted a new chemical spill law in 1977, the "Spill Compensation and Control Act," and additional charges under this law were added to the lawsuit. In 1983 the New Jersey Supreme Court held that Ventron and Velsicol were jointly liable for the environmental damage.