Feds OK Cleanup Plan For Polluted Site Near Passaic River In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — A cleanup plan is officially on the books for part of a polluted Superfund site in Newark, federal officials announced Friday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it has finalized its cleanup plan for the 80-120 Lister Avenue portion of the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site. The plan will address the contaminated soil, debris and groundwater that was left behind by activities at the facility.

Need a refresher? Here’s some background on the case, according to the EPA:

“The Diamond Alkali Superfund site includes the former manufacturing facility at 80-120 Lister Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, the Lower Passaic River Study Area (LPRSA), and the Newark Bay Study Area. The LPRSA includes the 17-mile tidal stretch of the river from Dundee Dam to Newark Bay and tributaries. The Newark Bay Study Area includes Newark Bay and portions of the Hackensack River, Arthur Kill and Kill van Kull. The area surrounding the site is densely populated and heavily industrialized.”

Here's what happened, the EPA says:

“Kolker Chemical Works Inc. produced Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and other chemicals at 80 Lister Avenue in the 1940s. The Diamond Alkali Company (later purchased by and merged into Occidental Chemical Corporation or OCC) owned and operated the facility in the 1950s and 1960s. The facility manufactured agricultural chemicals including herbicides used in ‘Agent Orange,’ a defoliant chemical that removes leaves from trees and plants. These manufacturing processes produced an extremely toxic chemical, 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin).”

According to the EPA, the state of New Jersey and federal officials took samples at and near 80 Lister Avenue and in the river in 1983. The results? High levels of dioxin.

The EPA and New Jersey also found pesticides and other hazardous substances in the soil and groundwater at 80-120 Lister Avenue, as well as dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pesticides in sediment in the Lower Passaic River.

The EPA listed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1984, and cleanup at the site has been taking place ever since.

Due to its size and complexity, the EPA separated the Superfund site and project work into four phases known as Operable Units (OUs):

• OU1 – the 80-120 Lister Avenue properties
• OU2 – the lower 8.3 miles of the Lower Passaic River
• OU3 – the Newark Bay Study Area
• OU4 – the entire 17-mile Lower Passaic River Study Area

The final cleanup plan announced this week – known as a Record of Decision – focuses on “OU1,” the location of a former pesticide and herbicide manufacturing facility that contaminated the surrounding area, the Lower Passaic River and Newark Bay.

“The contamination stemming from the Lister Avenue facility has impacted Newark for decades, and this cleanup plan marks a significant milestone in addressing it,” EPA regional administrator Lisa Garcia said.

Here are some details of the finalized plan announced Friday:

• “The EPA’s final cleanup plan calls for continued operation of the existing remedy, with improvements including reinstalling and reactivating a total of seven groundwater wells and pumps, upgrading the current groundwater treatment system, and making any necessary repairs to the existing cap covering contaminated materials. This approach builds on the previously completed work and would avoid the short-term risks associated with other options such as digging up and removing the contaminated material outright.”
• “The EPA assessed the potential impacts from climate change and confirmed that the 2001 cleanup was designed to withstand anticipated flood and storm impacts. The existing cleanup remained effective through major storms. EPA conducted a forward-looking climate change vulnerability assessment on the proposed cleanup to evaluate the impacts of rising temperatures, sea level rise, extreme weather, and heavy precipitation. The assessment concluded that the cleanup plan moving forward will address these vulnerabilities. The agency’s cleanup approach includes planning for a temporary groundwater treatment system to provide treatment if the existing system is damaged during a storm.”
• “For the purposes of investigating and cleaning up the river, the EPA separated the 17-mile stretch of the Lower Passaic River into two units: the lower 8.3 miles and the upper 9 miles, each with unique characteristics. The EPA issued a Record of Decision selecting the cleanup plan for the lower 8.3 miles in 2016, and for the upper nine miles in 2021. In 2024, the EPA approved the engineering design for the cleanup of the lower 8.3 miles, prepared by Occidental Chemical Corporation, a potentially responsible party for the site. As of 2023, Occidental Chemical Corporation began developing the engineering design for the upper nine-mile portion. The other area of this site, a portion of Newark Bay, has undergone an investigation by Occidental Chemical Corporation and is currently the subject of ongoing studies to evaluate cleanup options.”

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