The Diamond Alkali superfund site during boat tours on the Passaic River in Newark, N.J. on July 16, 2014 (Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger)
By Michael Sol Warren | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The lower reaches of the Passaic River are toxic.
Heavy industrial pollution through the 19th and 20th centuries left the river-bottom laced with hazardous substances, including carcinogens like dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
It’s a history of pollution that has robbed residents in Newark and surrounding towns of the chance to fully enjoy the river, a fact that once led U.S. Sen. Cory Booker to call the river “New Jersey’s biggest crime scene.” To this day, people are warned against eating any fish or crabs pulled from the Passaic.
Federal efforts to clean up this section of the river, known as the Diamond Alkali Superfund site, have been underway for decades. Now, the next chapter of that work is set to begin.
[Editor’s note: See previous related coverage]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Wednesday plans to dredge 387,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the bottom of a nine-mile stretch of the Passaic River, roughly between the Dundee Dam in Garfield and Kearny.
Not all of the pollution will be dredged and removed in the proposed plan. Some will be left behind, and buried underneath a cap to prevent it from spreading.
The EPA said dealing with this section of the river is critical to keeping pollution from spreading downstream, into areas where other cleanup work is already underway.
“This proposed interim action will address highly contaminated sediment located just upriver of the lower eight miles that is an ongoing source of contamination in the target area and acts as a reservoir for potential contaminant migration,” said Walter Mugdan, the acting regional administrator of EPA Region 2.
The new EPA plan has the support of Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.
“This cleanup will improve water quality and benefit communities throughout the Passaic River Basin and will help New Jersey to further the promise of environmental justice by remedying a Superfund site that affects overburdened communities along the Passaic River,” said Shawn LaTourette, the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
The new cleanup is expected to cost $441 million and take over 4 years to complete. It’s unclear when work would begin.
The nine-mile stretch affected by the new plan is just one part of the sprawling superfund site, which encompasses Newark Bay and the lower 17 miles of the Passaic River.
