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Passaic River
Recent Announcements
The Lower Passaic River Restoration Project
The sediments of the lower Passaic River, the longest river in New Jersey, and Newark Bay are contaminated with a variety of hazardous substances, including dioxin, PCBs, mercury, DDT, pesticides and heavy metals. The entire Newark Bay region, including the lower Passaic, is under a fish and shellfish consumption advisory due to the contamination over the past 100 years by numerous sources along the river.
EPA’s work on the river is divided into three areas:
- The Diamond Alkali Superfund Site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List because of hazardous substances present at several properties in Newark and in the Passaic River, which borders the properties. Three areas comprise the site: the Newark properties, the lower Passaic River, and the Newark Bay Study Area, and EPA treats each as a unique part of its investigation and cleanup efforts. EPA has signed an agreement with Occidental Chemical Corporation and Tierra Solutions, Inc. to remove a major source of contamination from the lower Passaic River.
- The Lower Passaic River Restoration Project
is a partnership of federal and New Jersey agencies designed to remediate contaminated sediments, improve water quality, restore degraded shorelines, restore and create new habitats and enhance human use along a 17-mile stretch of the lower Passaic and in several tributaries from Dundee Dam near Garfield, New Jersey to Newark Bay.
The selection and commencement of an early action for the Passaic River remediation and the acceleration of the pace of the study regarding final remediation is one of EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg's seven primary action goals for Region 2.
EPA has reached agreement with 73 companies considered potentially responsible for contaminants in the lower Passaic River. The agreement, contained in an Administrative Order on Consent [PDF 219 kB, 50 pp], calls for the parties to pay for the completion of the comprehensive study of contamination and possible cleanup approaches for 17 miles of the lower Passaic River.
- The Newark Bay Study , which includes the bay and portions of the Hackensack River, Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull, will assess the nature and extent of contamination in the Newark Bay area and develop cleanup plans to address those problems, as necessary.
EPA and other federal and state agencies created a Community Involvement Plan for the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site, Lower Passaic River Restoration Project and Newark Bay Study [PDF 18.2 MB, 56 pp] to encourage active and open public involvement around cleanup and restoration activities. The plan provides tools for keeping the public informed and for soliciting input.
Fish and shellfish consumption advisories
People should not consume fish or shellfish from the tidal Passaic River and its tributaries from Dundee Dam to Newark Bay. For Newark Bay, the Hackensack River, Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull and tidal tributaries, people should not consume blue crabs, American eel or White Perch. Children, pregnant women and women of childbearing age should avoid consuming Striped Bass and White Catfish from this area, and other individuals should limit consumption of Striped Bass to four meals per year and White Catfish to one meal per year.
For more information on fish and shellfish consumption advisories in this area, visit the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Web site .
For more information on EPA's work on the Passaic River and Newark Bay, contact Dave Kluesner at (212) 637-3653 or kluesner.dave@epa.gov.
