Much of the pollution comes from the former Diamond Alkali facility in
Newark during the production of
the notorious defoliant known as Agent Orange.
The federal Environmental Protection
Agency identified a portion of the Passaic River and Berry’s Creek in
the Meadowlands on Friday as two Superfund sites that will receive more
"intense attention" from the agency as it decides the best route for
cleanups.
The two North Jersey sites
are among 21 Superfund sites across the country that have been added to a
special list requested by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to receive
more immediate focus.
However, the new designation
does not provide any additional funding to help with cleanups. And
agreements with polluters, which often take years, will have to be
secured.
The agency wants to target a nine-mile
stretch of the Passaic River – from Belleville north to Clifton and
Garfield – contaminated with cancer-causing dioxin.
Within
the next month or two, companies and other entities responsible for the
pollution are expected to submit to EPA an investigation they have been
conducting that includes the nine miles, the agency said Friday
evening.
The EPA already ordered polluters last
year to conduct a $1.4 billion cleanup of the lower 8.3 miles of the
river from Belleville south to Newark Bay.
