42 years and still in DeNile, waiting for a real cleanup
After more than four decades, the Passaic River is finally getting some of the equipment needed to begin a cleanup that should have started generations ago. That is progress, but after 42 years, preparing the machinery is not the same as cleaning up the river.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice have proposed a $125 million settlement with Environmental Resource Holdings LLC, a corporate successor to Occidental Chemical and the companies that operated the Diamond Alkali facility in Newark. The agreement would pay for an upland processing facility and other infrastructure needed to process contaminated sediment and advance the cleanup of the lower 17 miles of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site. The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period.
Yes, this is a step forward. But it is a step toward the starting line, not the finish line…