After decades, giant Passaic River Superfund cleanup details released
The Passaic River is one the nation’s most toxic waterways, tainted by the by-products of Agent Orange manufacturing and decades of industrial dumping, leaving the lower 17 miles of the river marked for cleanup in the nation’s most complex environmental remediation effort.
But the bulk of that work still has not started almost 40 years after the river and surrounding areas were placed on the federal Superfund list. Today the Environmental Protection Agency has split the challenge into four parts that it is trying to tackle separately but in concert with each other: the former factory in the Ironbound section of Newark that once produced the defoliant Agent Orange, the lower eight miles of the river, the upper nine miles of the river above that section and Newark Bay.
The EPA has completed interim work to entomb toxic material at the site of the former Diamond Alkali site in Newark. In addition, some material near Lyndhurst was dredged up in 2013.
The EPA has lurched forward toward cleanup in recent years, emphasizing a $1.38 billion plan to carry out an intensive remediation effort on the heavily polluted lower eight miles of the river — the stretch between Newark Bay and the Newark-Belleville border.
It’s that part of the river that contains the bulk of the contamination — the place where dioxin, PCBs, PAHs, and heavy metals like lead and mercury settled into the mud long ago. The EPA’s plan calls for this part of the river to be dredged from bank to bank, ultimately scooping and sucking an estimated 2.5 million cubic yards of polluted sediment from the riverbed.
Click here for detailed story by NJ Spotlight’s Michael Sol Warren
BMW and Redwood partner to recycle lithium-ion batteries
By Hannah Carvalho, ReMA News
On Thursday, Sept. 19, battery recycler Redwood Materials announced a partnership with BMW of North America to recycle lithium-ion batteries from all electrified vehicles (EVs) in the BMW Group, including BMW, MINI, Rolls Royce, and BMW Motorrad. Redwood and BMW aim to forward the future of electrification and toward a more sustainable battery supply chain.
Redwood will work with BMW Group’s network of over 700 locations, including dealerships, distribution centers, and internal facilities, to facilitate the recovery of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.
According to the company’s press release, Redwood’s relationship with BMW of North America embodies its continued commitment to recovering end-of-life EV battery packs to ensure valuable materials are recycled, refined, and returned to the battery supply chain to build sustainable electric vehicles.
In its two U.S. campuses—one outside Reno, NV, and the other under construction in Charleston, SC—Redwood recycles, refines, and manufactures battery components. With South Carolina’s rich automotive history and being home to more than 500 automotive companies, including BMW, it’s no surprise that both Redwood and BMW are establishing significant operations in that region. Redwood’s Carolina Campus is located near BMW Group’s Plant Spartanburg and Plant Woodruff, where the company plans to assemble at least six fully electric models, and the high-voltage battery packs for those vehicles, before the end of the decade.
According to the press release, Redwood’s mission to build a sustainable battery supply chain is realized through collaborations with leaders in the electric vehicle and clean energy sectors. Its partnership with BMW of North America represents a significant milestone toward building a more sustainable future.
NanoGraf gets $60M grant for battery materials plant in Michigan
NanoGraf, the West Loop-based maker of advanced lithium-ion batteries, will build a $175 million manufacturing facility in Flint, Michigan. The company announced last week it received a $60 million U.S. Department of Energy grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Additional grants could come from the Make it in Michigan Competitiveness Fund, a pool of state money administered through the Michigan Infrastructure Office.
The project, which will retrofit an existing facility, will be completed in 2027 and produce an annual 2,500 tons of silicon anode material — enough to supply 1.5 million electric vehicles per year.
California’s new law bans all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores
“Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags. California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.
The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. Consumers who don’t bring their own bags will now simply be asked if they want a paper bag. State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, one of the bill’s supporters, said people were not reusing or recycling any plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) per year in 2004 to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) per year in 2021.”
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