ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A "huge step" has been taken towards the long-awaited cleanup of one of the nation's largest and most complex hazardous waste sites, federal officials say.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice recently released details about a proposed settlement agreement with Environmental Resource Holdings LLC regarding the Diamond Alkali Superfund site, which covers a sprawling swath of North Jersey, including parts of Newark Bay and the lower 17 miles of the Passaic River.
The site's history of pollution goes back to the 1940s and 1950s, when pesticides and herbicides were manufactured out of a factory on Lister Avenue near the river, including components for the infamous "Agent Orange." Over years of heavy industrial activity, dioxins and other hazardous chemicals began seeping into the surrounding soil and water, joining a toxic mélange from dozens of other nearby factories.
In 1983, sampling revealed high levels of dioxin near the factory and in the river. The following year, federal authorities added the site to the Superfund list – where it has remained to this day.
Environmental Resource Holdings (ERH) is a potentially responsible party for the site and a corporate successor to Occidental Chemical Corporation and to Diamond Alkali Company/Diamond Shamrock Corporation, which owned and operated the former Diamond Alkali facility in Newark.
The proposed agreement includes $125 million of cleanup work, the EPA said. Here's what it covers:
"Under the proposed consent decree, ERH would construct an upland processing facility and several upland support facilities that would enable dredging and capping work in the Lower Passaic River. The construction would include facilities to remove water from the river and handle sediment dredged from the river before it is sent for off-site disposal. The upland support facilities would provide land and infrastructure needed to support future in-river construction work. ERH would sample the lower 8.3 miles of the river to establish a baseline and reimburse EPA for future oversight costs related to this work."
"This is a huge step in cleaning up one of New Jersey's most complex Superfund sites," EPA Region 2 administrator Michael Martucci said.
"The work laid out in this proposed settlement gets shovels in the ground and lays the foundation for dredging and that brings us one important step closer to a cleaner and restored Passaic River," Martucci said.
The proposed consent decree was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day comment period. Learn more here.
DIAMOND ALKALAI SUPERFUND SITE: WHAT TO KNOW
The EPA has divided the cleanup into several parts.
Long-term remediation at the former Lister Avenue plant is nearing the finish line. The EPA also continues planning an interim cleanup for the river's upper nine miles.
Other parts of the plan have been less successful.
Federal authorities approved final engineering design for the lower part of the river in 2024, including a plan to dredge about 2.5 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment, cap the riverbed and restore wetlands and mudflats. The bulk of the work remains stalled while the EPA works to finalize agreements for the remedial work and supporting facilities.
Major legal disputes have added to the delay.
The cost of cleaning up the lower portion of the river has been estimated at a whopping $1.4 billion. In 2024, a federal judge approved a consent decree that required a group of more than 80 potentially responsible parties to pay $150 million toward the effort.
Occidental Chemical Corp. (OxyChem), which bought the Diamond Alkali Company and operated the factory on Lister Avenue in the 1950s and 1960s, has argued that it has been left "holding the bag" for much of the remaining cost, even though nearly 100 companies are potentially responsible for generating and releasing the pollution.
The corporation – which prepared the EPA-approved engineering design for the lower river and has performed years of technical investigation and planning under federal oversight – is demanding that other companies pay for a larger portion of the cleanup.
However, a group of 85 other businesses claim they are only responsible for 0.1 percent of the pollution, alleging that OxyChem needs to step up and "pay its fair share."
OxyChem has also faced criticism from environmental activists, who have accused the company of dragging its feet when it comes to the cleanup: a concern shared by the Newark City Council.
In June, the Ironbound Community Corporation and the Passaic River Community Advisory Group held a rally at Riverfront Park, calling for more action at the longstanding Superfund site.
"For too long, major polluting corporations have seen Newark and the Passaic River as nothing more than a dumping ground for toxic waste," an activist said. "But the message from today's rally and subsequent petition is simple: polluters must pay, the cleanup must move forward, and the people most impacted by this crisis must have a voice in shaping the river's future."
Advocates followed up on their campaign by penning a letter to the EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies demanding an "immediate cleanup for the Passaic River."
Activists also said they are worried about Occidental's recent $9.7 billion sale of OxyChem to Berkshire Hathaway, which they say could throw a monkey wrench into the cleanup effort.
According to Occidental, environmental liabilities associated with legacy cleanup projects – including the Passaic River – were retained by Environmental Resource Holdings LLC. Glenn Springs Holdings Inc., another Occidental subsidiary, will manage remediation activities and work with EPA.
In the meanwhile, millions of cubic yards of toxic sediment laden with a century's worth of dioxin, PCBs, heavy metals, pesticides and other contaminants continues to lurk at the bottom of the Passaic. The contaminants are swept up into the water column with the tides and during storms, and are redistributed throughout the river.
To this day, it's still a terrible idea to eat seafood from the lower part of the Passaic, according to the EPA.
"Once these various river and bay cleanups have been completed, it will still be many years before the levels of contamination in fish and crab have decreased to levels that are considered safe to eat," the agency recently said.
In a 2023 blog post, an executive committee member with the New Jersey of the Sierra Club wrote that the river has been polluted for over 150 years.
It's time to start asking some bigger questions about what it all means, she said.
"The EPA knows it will take decades before the mess is cleaned up enough to safely swim and fish there again," the post reads. "In the end, those who pay taxes will ultimately pay for the cleanup. Did our society get enough satisfaction from the products manufactured to justify paying for the destruction of our environment? Have we learned any lessons?"
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