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Friday, March 29, 2024

Upper 9 Mile Interim Action

Record of Decision (ROD) for the Upper 9 Miles of the Lower Passaic River [September 2021]

EPA has finalized its decision on an interim cleanup plan for the sediment of the upper 9 miles of the Lower Passaic River that addresses sediment acting as a source of contamination for the Lower Passaic River Study Area, which is the lower 17 miles of the river.

The interim cleanup plan, called a Record of Decision, includes dredging approximately 387,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment over approximately 96 acres from river mile 8.3 to the Dundee Dam. Contaminated sediment will be dredged to the depth(s) necessary to construct a sediment cap that does not diminish water depth or exacerbate flooding both under current conditions and considering climate change impacts.

After dredging, an engineered cap will be placed to prevent contamination in the sediment from entering the water column and fish tissue. Dredged sediment will be dewatered locally and transported off-site for disposal. Once the sediment is dredged and the cap placed, the water column, fish tissue, and sediment will be monitored to determine the final remedy for the river. The estimated cost of the remedy is $441 million.

The Record of Decision, including a Responsiveness Summary containing all of EPA’s responses to public comments on the cleanup proposal, is available here.

The English version of the Final Plan Fact Sheet is available here.

The Spanish version of the Final Plan Fact Sheet is available here.

A copy of the news release is available here.

Final Feasibility Study Report [September 2021]

The interim action Feasibility Study Report (FS) for the Upper 9 Miles of the LPRSA evaluates a range of options to clean up the contaminated sediments in the upper 9 miles (called remedial alternatives). This document is available here.

EPA Announces Proposed Plan for Diamond Alkali Superfund Site Operable Unit 4

EPA is proposing a plan to address contaminated source sediment in the upper 9 miles of the Lower Passaic River Study Area (LPRSA) of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site. The plan identifies the preferred remedial alternative, or cleanup action. The LPRSA is Operable Unit 4 (OU4), the part that covers the entire Lower Passaic River. To review the Proposed Plan: click here

To review the April 2021 Community Update fact sheet in English: click here
To review the April 2021 Community Update fact sheet in Spanish: click here

EPA hosted a Virtual Public Meeting on the Proposed Plan on April 27, 2021. To review the meeting slides: click here

To review the Diamond Alkali OU 4 Administrative Record: click here