USA: CPG Concerned Over Passaic Cleanup Plan

The Lower Passaic River Study Area Cooperating Parties Group (CPG) announced that they are disappointed because the EPA has released its Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) and Proposed Plan, a massive, impractical, and disruptive bank-to-bank remedy for the lower eight miles of the River.

EPA’s proposal raises a number of substantial issues that should cause concern among affected communities and residents.

It is equally concerning that Tierra/Maxus/Occidental (TMO), well-known, intentional polluters (including dioxin – the primary source of human health risk), have unnecessarily delayed any meaningful action on the river for decades.

TMO, the parties responsible for the Diamond Alkali site in Newark that produced the Agent Orange that contaminated the river, abandoned their obligation to restore the Passaic and are now attempting to hide. These companies are responsible for what is driving the clean-up of the contamination in the Passaic River.

The FFS would take decades to implement in one of the most congested regions in the country, potentially disrupting and impairing economic growth and limiting recreational activity on the River for a generation. EPA’s recovery predictions show that the proposed bank-to-bank dredge may not even be protective of human health.

[mappress]

Press Release, April 14, 2014