In Newark, the Passaic River is more than a strip of water cutting through the city’s industrial past. For many residents, it is a daily reminder of promises delayed, pollution left behind, and a cleanup effort that has moved far more slowly than the communities along the river believe is acceptable.
Now, environmental advocates are again demanding action on one of the largest and most complicated hazardous waste cleanups in the United States: the Diamond Alkali Superfund site. Patch reported that activists recently gathered at Riverfront Park to press federal officials and corporate parties to move the cleanup of the lower Passaic River forward.
Why the Passaic River cleanup matters
The Diamond Alkali Superfund site is centered on the former chemical manufacturing property on Lister Avenue in Newark, but the contamination problem extends far beyond a single factory address. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the site includes the former 80-120 Lister Avenue facility, the Lower Passaic River Study Area, and the Newark Bay Study Area. The lower river corridor is densely populated and historically industrial, placing the cleanup at the intersection of environmental restoration, public health, and urban justice.
EPA records trace part of the pollution history to chemical production at the Lister Avenue property in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The agency says manufacturing there involved DDT and agricultural chemicals, including herbicides associated with Agent Orange, and produced highly toxic dioxin. Sampling by New Jersey and federal officials in 1983 found high levels of dioxin near the property and in the river, leading the EPA to place the site on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1984.
The cleanup plan is clear, but progress remains slow.
The lower 8.3 miles of the Passaic River have long been viewed as a major source of contamination affecting the broader river system and Newark Bay. EPA selected a cleanup plan for that stretch in 2016. The work calls for dredging contaminated sediment from the river, placing a protective cap across the riverbed, and isolating pollution that has settled into the bottom over generations…