EPA Postpones MeetUp: It Must Reset Its Passaic River Cleanup Plan

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has postponed its planned October 29, 2024, community meeting in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood, where community members anticipated discussing the agency’s controversial plan for decontaminating the Lower Passaic River. EPA Project Manager Alice Yeh announced the decision last week, stating that the EPA plans to reschedule the meeting for November but has not finalized a date or location. The EPA is actively seeking a venue and will post updates on its website, ourPassaic.org, and email the mailing list with event details. Residents are encouraged to sign up for notifications to stay informed and participate in future discussions.

EPA’s proposed cleanup plan for the Lower Passaic River—the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site—relies on data that is decades old. Originally intended for a vastly different landscape, the EPA’s plan was designed nearly 20 years ago to address a blighted industrial area along the Passaic River, prioritizing the removal and isolation of toxic sediments. However, Harrison, NJ, has since undergone a remarkable transformation. Thanks to the leadership of the late Mayor Raymond J. McDonough and the Town Council, Harrison’s contaminated southern end has been reborn as a thriving residential and commercial area, generating over $14 million in revenue annually from new developments—close to the $16 million in taxes generated by the town’s older residential zones. Yet this vibrant progress is at risk as EPA’s outdated plan proposes a staging area for toxic sludge dewatering on the now-cleaned PSE&G property near the Jackson Street Bridge. It cost of PSE&G’s clean-up is a reported 367 to 400 Million dollars.

This area is no longer an industrial wasteland but a modern, mixed-use community that includes residential apartments like Steelworks, Vermella Harrison, The Cobalt Lofts, and the newly built Wyldes Harrison. It is also adjacent to other modern apartment buildings with prestigious names like Urby Harrison, Harrison Commons, Bergen & Dey, Water’s Edge, One Harrison, The Eddy, and two hotels Hampton Inn and The Element.

In EPA’s plan, sludge contaminated with dioxin—a toxin produced during the manufacturing of Agent Orange—would be extracted from the riverbed and dewatered at the PSE&G Harrison property. But while EPA has included monitoring and controls for air quality, noise, and odor, the prospect of bringing toxic sludge with a tar-like substance known as NAPL (non-aqueous phase liquid) to a vibrant community has triggered significant public opposition. Dioxin can spread easily through airborne particles, and the mere presence of such hazardous material near family homes, retail stores, and a busy PATH station and the Northeast Train Corridor challenges the EPA’s stated mission to protect human health and the environment. The transformation of Harrison over the last 26 years from a contaminated zone to a flourishing residential area should signal the EPA to reconsider its plan for using the PSE&G property as a staging ground for the river cleanup and worse a Toxic Sludge plant. Instead of strengthening the community, the EPA’s current strategy could jeopardize years of painstaking redevelopment.

The EPA’s mission is rooted in protecting human health and the environment, with a renewed focus on equity, environmental justice, and civil rights. Yet, by proposing to place a dewatering plant in a densely populated area, EPA is not only risking the health of Harrison’s residents but contradicting its mission statement. Placing a toxic sludge plant across from modern apartment buildings raises questions about the agency's commitment to these values, particularly in a town that has overcome its industrial pollution history. The Ironbound section of Newark, where a second dewatering plant is proposed, faces similar concerns. While the Newark facility would be located adjacent to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, it is within a mile of densely populated neighborhoods already burdened by multiple sources of pollution. Newark’s Ironbound community, designated as an Environmental Justice area, suffers from numerous pollution sources, including the Keegan Landfill in Kearny, NJ, which releases hydrogen sulfide and methane gases; the Arien Garbage Incinerator; and the Darling Rendering Plant in Newark. Each source contributes to cumulative environmental stressors, underscoring the need for more thoughtful placement of new environmental burdens.

Alice Yeh explained that Occidental Chemical Corporation, under EPA’s supervision, is responsible for the design of the remedy for the river’s lower 8.3 miles, which includes dredging contaminated sediment and transporting it to dewatering facilities before final disposal. However, no official agreement with PSE&G has been established to use its Harrison property, and community outreach will remain a priority if plans to use the location proceed. But the community’s message is clear: EPA must rethink its current approach. Harrison’s southern district, now a residential and retail center, is unsuited for a facility intended to handle high-risk materials. The EPA’s initial plan for Harrison did not envision this area as a residential hub. Yet today, the town’s redevelopment efforts have turned this former industrial landscape into a prosperous community, effectively removing its “industrial” label. Harrison’s PSE&G site was meant to host green spaces, a community center, and a drop-off zone for the PATH station to reduce traffic congestion, contributing to a sustainable, community-oriented future.

EPA’s proposal, even with monitoring measures, does not align with the community’s needs or values and could endanger both Newark’s and Harrison’s residents. For EPA to truly honor its mission of protecting human health, equity, and environmental justice, it must adapt its plans to the realities of these transformed communities.

EPA must reset and reboot and grab hold of its Mission Statement to protect human health. Yes, cleaning up the Passaic River is a long time goal.  Yes, the Passaic River cleanup is long overdue.  But trying to force a plan that had its foundation taken out from under it by having contaminated properties revitalized into de-contaminated productive properties while EPA put together its clean-up plan, is a move that should not be made just because there is a perceived new urgency to clean up the Passaic River.  The sludge and the dioxins within that sludge will be there to be cleaned up if EPA resets and reboots with a new plan that takes the Toxic Sludge Plants to an industrial area like South Kearny or further down the river.  EPA must build a stand-alone Toxic Sludge Plant connected to the New Jersey Turnpike or to rail lines in South Kearny that already exist.  There must be at least a buffer between residents and the EPA toxic sludge plant that is miles and not feet away from residents.  

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