New Jersey Statutes
N.J. Stat. § 12:5-2 (2026)
Preventing encroachment on water front
✓ current as of May 2026
The Department of Environmental Protection may, by appropriate action in any court, prevent the encroachment or trespass upon the water front of any of the navigable waters of this State or bounding thereon, or upon the riparian lands of this State, and compel the removal of any such encroachment or trespass, and restrain, prevent and remove any construction, erection or accretion injurious to the flow of any such waters, which may be detrimental to the proper navigation thereof and the maintenance and improvement of commerce thereon.
Amended by L.1975, c. 232, s. 7.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (5 in the last 5 years), 2014–2024 · leading case: Borough of Upper Saddle River v. Rockland Cnty. Sewer Dist. 1, 16 F. Supp. 3d 294 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).
Borough of Upper Saddle River v. Rockland Cnty. Sewer Dist. 1, 16 F. Supp. 3d 294 (S.D.N.Y. 2014). “N.J. Stat. Ann. § 12:5-2 (West). . Nearly every court to decide the issue in recent years has deemed the "ancient” remedy of trespass a disfavored means of pursuing relief for environmental pollution in modern day New Jersey.”
New Jersey Dep't of Env't Prot. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (D.N.J. 2021). “Plaintiffs further assert that N.J. Stat. Ann. § 12:5-2 grants the DEP the power to bring actions to prevent trespasses onto New Jersey’s navigable waters or riparian lands and that N.”
New Jersey Dep't of Env't Prot. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (D.N.J. 2021). “Plaintiffs further assert that N.J. Stat. Ann. § 12:5-2 grants the DEP the power to bring actions to prevent trespasses onto New Jersey’s navigable waters or riparian lands and that N.”
New Jersey Dep't of Env't Prot. v. E.i Dupont De Nemours & Co. (D.N.J. 2021). “Plaintiffs further assert that N.J. Stat. Ann. § 12:5-2 grants the DEP the power to bring actions to prevent trespasses onto New Jersey’s navigable waters or riparian lands and that N.”
New Jersey Dep't of Env't Prot. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (D.N.J. 2021). “Plaintiffs further assert that N.J. Stat. Ann. § 12:5-2 grants the DEP the power to bring actions to prevent trespasses onto New Jersey’s navigable waters or riparian lands and that N.”
Michael Dunn v. New Jersey Dep't of Env't Prot., Etc. (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2024). “" Under the WDL, "[a]ll plans for the development of any waterfront upon any navigable water or stream of this State .”
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