The United States Environmental Protection Agency will host a meeting from 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 27, at Harrison High School to discuss the diamond alkali superfund site in Harrison, at which it is expected to cover a complete presentation about the superfund and cleanup process at the Passaic River.
According to a report first published on Your Harrison, the EPA plans to establish “a toxic sludge dewatering plant (of Agent Orange, now located on the bottom of the river) in a residential community directly across the street from modern luxury apartment buildings in the Town of Harrison.”
Agent Orange, according to the Aspen Institute, is a pesticide that is a “herbicide mixture used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Much of it contained a dangerous chemical contaminant called dioxin. Production of Agent Orange ended in the 1970s and is no longer in use. The dioxin contaminant however continues to have harmful impact today. As many U.S. Vietnam-era veterans know, dioxin is a highly toxic and persistent organic pollutant linked to cancers, diabetes, birth defects and other disabilities.”
Harrison attorney John M. Pinho recently addressed a meeting of the EPA in a Zoom teleconference and flatly asked what the federal agency’s plans were for the site at the edge of the Jackson Street Bridge on Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard South.
Here’s what Alice Yeh, an EPA project manager, said in reply.
“That’s one of the sites that is proposed in the design, to, it’s really to treat the sediments that are contaminated by the sort of oily tar-like stuff that, from the PSE&G facility, historically,” Yeh said. “The proposal is also to put capping material there that that will go into that section of the river as well.”
Further pressed by Pinho, who noted this once industrial area is now mostly residential, with luxury apartment buildings, Yeh said: “I think that the river is in an urban community, in urban communities,” Yeh said. “The whole river sort of runs through very settled areas, and so in order to do this work, in order to clean up the river, the dredged materials need to be brought on land, squeezed dry, and shipped to disposal facilities elsewhere in the United States — and so any sort of piece of land that is available to do that kind of work, we’re going to try use it to do the work.”
Mayor James A. Fife, meanwhile, says it wouldn’t be proper for him or the council to come out either for or against the EPA’s plans until they’re fully vetted in late August.
“We patiently await hearing from the EPA when it comes to Harrison High School to discuss its plans,” Fife said. “To now, we have not been fully briefed, but when we are, we will discuss their ideas before deciding whether this is the appropriate course to take.”
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.