Hazard NJ BONUS Episode: The Hackensack’s Comeback Moves Ahead
Last fall, the chemical tax was brought back as part of the massive federal infrastructure bill.
Efforts to clean up the lower stretch of the Passaic River are getting a $150 million boost, thanks to a new settlement between the federal government and 85 likely polluters. This stretch of the river, running through Newark and nearby towns, is coated with a lining of toxic mud, tainted by decades and decades of chemical dumping. Getting it cleaned up will be difficult – and expensive. At roughly $1.8 billion, the Passaic River is estimated to be the costliest project currently facing the EPA’s Superfund program. That makes the settlement a small, but welcome, step forward.
Support for Hazard NJ is provided by Peril and Promise, a public media reporting initiative covering the human stories of climate change and its solutions, with major funding provided by Dr. P. Roy Vagelos and Diana T. Vagelos. You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise