Countless public and private sources have polluted the Lower Passaic River over the past 200 years.

During the 1800s, the area surrounding the Lower Passaic River became a focal point for our nation’s Industrial Revolution. The degradation of the Lower Passaic can be traced back to the Civil War when the City of Newark and the tanning industry used the river as an open sewer. By the 20th Century, Newark had established itself as the largest industrial-based city in the country.

The urban and residential development surrounding the Lower Passaic River, combined with associated population growth, have resulted in poor water quality, contaminated sediments, bans on fish and shellfish consumption, lost wetlands and a significantly reduced habitat.

In the early 1980s, the federal Environmental Protection Agency found contaminants, such as metals, persistent organic chemicals, pesticides and dioxin, in the sediments of the lower six miles of the Passaic River.

These sediments were analyzed, and results showed elevated levels of chemicals higher than federal and state standards. The EPA continues to study the lower 17-mile tidal stretch of the river for contaminated sediments and other sources of chemicals, as part of the effort to create a comprehensive restoration plan for the river.

Over the years, wetlands have been filled and riverbeds bulk-headed to foster development of this major metropolitan area, home to 1.3 million people in Essex and Passaic counties. Although progress has been made to cease industrial discharges, urban run-off and combined sewer overflows continue to discharge to the Passaic River. Wildlife is returning, but more work is needed.