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Plan Proposed to Involve Communities in the Cleanup and
Restoration of the
Lower Passaic River
FOR RELEASE: Thursday, August 18, 2005
Public input is being sought on a draft plan to involve the public in
the Lower Passaic River Restoration Project. On August 18, 2005 the
partner agencies released a draft community involvement plan (CIP) to
the public for a 45-day review and comment period which runs through
October 3. The draft CIP outlines 31 community involvement tools and
activities, identifies how they will be used to address community
concerns, and advocates public involvement in cleanup, natural resource
injury assessment, and restoration activities.
Public forums will be held to discuss the draft CIP, upcoming surveys
and sampling activities, and the environmental dredging and
decontamination pilot being performed by the partner agencies. The
forums will be held in Rutherford on September 14 at the Rutherford
Public Library (located at 150 Park Avenue, Rutherford, NJ) from 7 p.m.
to 10 p.m. and in Newark on September 15 at the East Side High School
(located at 238 Van Buren Street, Newark, NJ) from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Please contact David Kluesner or Carolyn Vadino, the partner agency
public affairs representatives, with your comments, concerns, and
questions regarding the draft CIP:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
David Kluesner
Public Affairs Division
290 Broadway, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10007-1866
Phone: (212) 637-3653
Fax: (212) 637-4445
kluesner.dave@epa.gov
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Carolyn J. Vadino
Harbor Programs Branch
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278-0900
Phone: (917) 790-8306
Fax: (212) 264-5779
carolyn.j.vadino@nan02.usace.army.mil
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Contacts: Elizabeth Zimmerman, U.S. EPA,
Region 2 (212) 637-3664
Carolyn Vadino, US Army Corps, (212) 264-0109
James Hadden, NJDOT, (609) 530-2938
Fred Mumford, NJDEP, (609) 984-1795
Federal and State Agencies Will Clean Up and Revitalize the
Lower Passaic River
FOR RELEASE: Monday, October 20, 2003
New York, NY & Trenton, NJ -- A landmark regional
partnership of state and federal agencies, consisting of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers New York District, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and
the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), announced
today a joint study to cleanup and restore the Lower Passaic River.
The Lower Passaic River Restoration Project focuses on a study area that
stretches 17 miles from the Dundee Dam south to the point where the
Passaic River enters Newark Bay. This part of the Passaic River,
referred to as the Lower Passaic River, is highly industrialized and
commercialized and has a long history of degraded water quality,
sediment contamination, loss of wetlands, and abandoned or underutilized
properties along its shores.
Through its study, the Lower Passaic Restoration Project will take a
comprehensive view of the Lower Passaic River and its tributaries. An
interagency team will determine the sources and extent of contamination,
assess the condition of plant and animal habitats, and calculate the
risks to human health and the ecosystem. The partner agencies will then
develop a comprehensive cleanup and restoration plan to address the
problems posed by the sediment contamination and loss of habitat, in
consultation with stakeholders and the public.
EPA will use its authority under Superfund to provide approximately $10
million and the Corps and NJDOT are cost-sharing an additional estimated
$9 million of the multi-year study of the Lower Passaic River
Restoration Project. The partners are also coordinating with the Federal
and State Trustee agencies on issues relating to natural resource damage
assessment.
"The Corps is very excited to work with all these agencies to determine
a plan to restore the Lower Passaic River. We are committed to our
environmental operating principles and this restoration project is one
component of our overall commitment to build a world-class harbor
estuary here in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary," said Col. John B. O'Dowd,
New York District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "The Lower
Passaic is one part of a significant body of water, so what we do to
clean that portion directly affects areas like Newark and the New York
bays."
"We are eager to build on our cleanup work at the Diamond Alkali site
under EPA's Superfund program and enter into this unique partnership to
address the Lower Passaic River as a watershed," said EPA Regional
Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "Working with the Corps and the State of
New Jersey, EPA will make sure that those who caused the contamination
are held responsible, while keeping the project to restore the health of
the river moving forward."
Under Superfund authority, the EPA plans to test the river sediment for
contaminants, track down other sources, and determine the risks that the
contaminants might pose to human health and the river's ecosystem. EPA's
work will build on previous studies that showed that there are a number
of contaminants in river sediment, including dioxin, DDT, PCBs,
pesticides, mercury and heavy metals as a result of industrial and
commercial operations along the river.
"The restoration of the Passaic River is vital to ensure the health and
economic viability of the Port of NY/NJ and our maritime transportation
network," said Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere. "Cleaning up
the Passaic is a mandatory step towards reducing contaminant loading in
the Harbor and saving hundreds of millions of dollars in navigational
dredged material management costs. It is imperative for the ecological
and economic revitalization of the region."
"Communities along the Lower Passaic River have waited too long for
cleanup of this precious resource," said New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell. "New Jersey
is joining this partnership to complement our efforts at the state level
to accelerate renewal of this vital estuary."
Additional information can be obtained by visiting the project Web site
at www.ourPassaic.org.
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