PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — The Administration has pledged to continue
cleaning up the heavily polluted Passaic River, a move that worries
some local environmentalists.
The lower eight miles of the
Passaic River was declared a federal Superfund site in 1984 after years
of contamination at the former Diamond Alkali Co. manufacturing facility
in Newark. Sediment there contains dioxin, PCBs, heavy metals,
pesticides and other contaminants.
Diamond Alkali is one of
several responsible parties responsible for what's known as "legacy
contamination," or contamination that occurred over several decades by
multiple parties.
DDT and other chemicals were made at the Lister
Avenue site in Newark in the 1940s. Diamond Alkali owned and
manufactured agricultural chemicals, including herbicides in "Agent
Orange." Dioxin, an extremely toxic chemical, was a by-product of the
manufacturing. The site includes part of the Hackensack River.
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) secured a $165 million
agreement with Occidental Chemical, one of the responsible parties, in
2016 to clean up the eight miles of the river. However, funding and
personnel changes to the EPA could put the cleanup in jeopardy, however.
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