If you have followed the Passaic River via River Road or the parallel Route 21, you may have noticed the abundance of boats, barges, and construction equipment. Though a new bridge would be a welcome sight, the riverbed is actually part of a large-scale dredging project. For a nominal fee of $20,000,000, the silt and mud from the river will be dredged and sent to a facility for decontamination. As per the report on EPA.gov, the cleanup crews will move downriver from County Park clearing an approximate 60,000 cubic feet of highly toxic sludge.

Much of the Passaic near the river’s mouth at Newark Bay has been designated a federal superfund site, intended to receive funding for public works projects. The dredging most North Arlington residents will be seeing is funded by a number of private chemical corporations, many of whom were indicted in the reckless contamination of the river, most notably at the Diamond Alkali chemical plant in Newark.

Featured in the New York Times for its long legacy of environmental damage, the Diamond Alkali plant manufactured numerous industrial chemicals for several decades. The major source of concern, however, lies in the history the factory has with the hazardous pollutants known as dioxins, as well as the extremely toxic defoliant, Agent Orange. Both of these substances are incredibly harmful to humans, with a specific component chemical, TCDD being called “perhaps the most toxic molecule ever synthesized by man”.

As far back as 1980, the Federal Government had named the Passaic River as one of many contaminated areas to be cleaned up; however, due to lack of a definite plan, the waterway was left untouched. With recent budgetary approval by Governor Chris Christie, and a solidly mapped out plan to remove and replace the carcinogenic mud of the Passaic, many residents are hopeful that the river will no longer be a health hazard. Perhaps one day in the near future, the banks may even harbor wildlife beyond gaggles of pushy, territorial geese.