Town Cancels Meetings: Concerns Grow Over EPA's Toxic Sludge Plant

The Town of Harrison has announced the cancellation of two meetings scheduled for the week of August 19, 2024. The first meeting, set for Tuesday, August 20, 2024, was to be a session of the Mayor & Council. The second, a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, was planned for Wednesday, August 21, 2024. Town officials have not provided details on why the meetings were canceled..

The status of the Harrison Redevelopment Agency (HRA) meeting, scheduled for Monday, August 26, 2024, at 1 p.m. in the Harrison Town Hall, remains uncertain. Town officials have yet to confirm whether this meeting will proceed as planned or if it will also be canceled.

EPA Public Meeting

A very important Public Meeting hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled for Tuesday, August 27, 2024, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at Harrison High School, located at 401 Kingsland Avenue, Harrison, NJ. The meeting is expected to address the EPA’s plan to remove Toxic Agent Orange Sludge from the bottom of the Passaic River and bring it onto land to be dewatered. EPA has a controversial plan to build a Toxic Dioxin Sludge Plant on the property between the Jackson Street Bridge/Cape May Street in Harrison and the PATH Station in Harrison.

The existence of this plan was first brought to public attention nearly two years ago, on August 29, 2022, during a Harrison Redevelopment Agency (HRA) meeting when John M. Pinho questioned Mayor Fife who is also the long time Chairman of HRA as to why there were no Public Green Spaces in the Harrison Redevelopment Zone. At that meeting, Mayor James Fife disclosed the plan while attempting to shift responsibility onto the EPA and PSE&G (Public Service Electric & Gas) for the lack of Green Space in the development zone.  Mayor Fife stated, “Of course, you have the biggest piece Public Service, the EPA is holding that up. We were going to do some planning over there but the EPA is going to be using it for the [Passaic] river dredge [aka sludge]. We don’t know how long that is going to be—it could be 10 years. But it is up to EPA and PSE&G to decide what is going on there.”

Mayor Fife and Harrison Public Schools Director / Councilman James Doran tried to deny the above statement made by Mayor Fife and set in motion a plan to keep the Public in the dark about EPA’s plan for a Toxic Sludge Plant in Harrison NJ.  EPA Project Director Alice Yeh at an EPA CAG meeting was questioned by John M. Pinho and confirmed that EPA planned to build a Toxic Sludge Dewatering plant in Harrison.  Concerns about the potential health and environmental impacts of the proposed plant have only intensified since this disclosure.

Residents seeking more information can view a portion of the EPA CAG meeting Q&A above. Additionally, the article Concealment, The Truth & Lies About EPA's Toxic Sludge Plant in Harrison, NJ provides details of the plan by Mayor Fife & Councilman James Doran to keep residents in the dark about EPA's Toxic Sludge Plant hoping to run out the clock on any opposition to the plant.

Planning Board Meeting

Looking ahead, the Harrison Planning Board meeting is still scheduled for Wednesday, August 28, 2024, with a 5:45 p.m. start at the Harrison Town Hall. As always, the public is welcome at all of Harrison’s scheduled meetings, where they will have the opportunity to make statements and ask questions during the Public Session.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the future of these meetings and the controversial nature of the proposed Toxic Sludge Plant, residents are urged to attend the EPA’s Meeting stay informed, and participate in the upcoming Town meetings.

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