Lower Hackensack River Proposed To Become A Superfund Site

SECAUCUS, NJ — The lower portion of the Hackensack, which impacts the town of Secaucus and surrounding towns on the Lower Hackensack River such as Newark, was proposed to be named a Superfund site Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This means that federal dollars will be directed to do a clean-up of the mud in the river. The public will still be able to access and use the river while the clean-up is going on, said Bill Sheehan, who founded Hackensack Riverkeeper.

Riverkeeper is the group that runs boat tours of the Hackensack River, plus offers kayak rentals from Laurel Hill Park. Sheehan said the boat tours and kayak rentals will continue — even while the federal clean-up is underway.

The EPA has proposed to add the Lower Hackensack River to the Superfund list; the decision is not final. The EPA will next open a 60-day public comment period before a final decision is made. Secaucus town administrator Gary Jeffas said the town was never told by the EPA that public access to the river would be restricted or cut off in the clean-up.

Research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of superfund sites after cleanup.

Thursday's announcement by the EPA is "a major victory," said Sheehan, who has been advocating for years for the Hackensack to be designated a superfund site.

"The idea started to gain some momentum in 2015, but then it stalled in 2017 under the Trump administration; the environment really suffered with the way he ran the EPA," said Sheehan Thursday. "But now with a good governor in New Jersey and President Biden in office, there is movement again."

"This is going to be really good for the environment," he continued. "The water quality in the Hackensack has improved tenfold over the years and a lot of wildlife species have returned to the river. Cleaning up the river once and for all will benefit all of that."

What the EPA will do specifically is clean the river's soil and sediment, not the river water, explained Sheehan. Hackensack River water is actually not considered polluted: It is relatively safe for the public to kayak in the river, he said.

It is the soil at the bottom of the river that is contaminated by chromium, arsenic and other toxic metals. The fish in the river are also not fit for human consumption.

There will also likely be negotiations with the companies that were located along the Hackensack River, to see if they will pay for some of the clean-up.

Sheehan said what he expects the EPA will do is dredge the soil at the bottom of the river. The soil is then treated and deposited elsewhere, and then replaced by a cap of sand, which is meant to prevent other toxins buried at the bottom of the river from leeching out. He said this is the process the EPA has already started on the Passaic River, which has been declared a superfund site for the past 20 years now.

"This will be a long process, but I've actually been assured by the EPA that this clean-up will go quicker than other superfund clean-ups," he said. "Every time they do a clean-up at a site, they learn things and how to speed up the process."

The Lower Hackensack River was proposed to be added to the Superfund National Priorities List along with 12 other sites nationwide Thursday.

New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any other state in the nation.

The Lower Hackensack is defined as the 18.75-mile stretch of the river between the Oradell Dam and near the mouth of the river in Newark Bay, plus its associated wetlands and the surrounding area.

The Hackensack has been a hub of industrial activity for more than 200 years. As a result, decades of sewage and industrial discharges into the river and its tributaries have contaminated river sediment. Mud and sediment in the Hackensack tests high for arsenic, lead, chromium, mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The Hackensack River is part of the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary and is a habitat to over 30 designated endangered or threatened species and more than 8,400 acres of wetlands.

Superfund clean-ups done in the United States have also resulted in a "significant reductions" in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, according to the EPA.

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