BIG WIN: NJDEP REQUESTS LISTING OF
HACKENSACK RIVER AS SUPERFUND SITE
Dear Friends of Hackensack Riverkeeper,
Today is a historic day for the Hackensack River and our organization. After years of hard work, Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced their support behind listing the entire lower Hackensack River as a federal Superfund site. Once approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), roughly twenty-three miles of river will be placed on the National Priorities List (AKA the Superfund list). For those unfamiliar, a Superfund site is categorized as one so polluted that it requires a long-term response to remove hazardous contaminants. 

I first petitioned the EPA to consider listing our river in 2015 and our petition was accepted. What followed was a year-long study of the water and sediments, including multiple core samples taken from VanBuskirk Island in Oradell to the mouth of the river at Kearny Point. In January 2016, EPA announced its findings which determined that the Hackensack RIver met all criteria for the listing on the National Priorities List.
Concurrence from NJDEP has been the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place. Once added to the NPL, the long, intricate EPA process of studying the river begins, along with the identification and pursuit of potentially responsible parties to fund the cleanup effort. 

Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection announced that “designating the lower Hackensack River as a federal Superfund site will provide the tools we need to remove decades of contamination that have polluted river sediments and restore the natural resources that have been impaired for far too long.” And I agree.
I felt proud to stand alongside NJDEP, Commissioner LaTourette, U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell Jr. & Josh Gottheimer, as well as officials from Bergen County and Hudson County municipalities
Once the river is added to the National Priorities List, an intricate EPA process of studying the river, creating cleanup action plans, and identifying and pursuing Potentially Responsible Parties will begin. The last bit is how we in New Jersey make the polluters pay - even if what they did was a long time ago.

This significant decision marks the turning of the tide for our river. It will be the first time such a large stretch of a New Jersey river has been listed. Superfund listing means that the Hackensack will be relieved of the burden of contamination it has suffered under for more than a century.

The cleanup will ultimately benefit people in more than twenty communities. One critical aspect of the Superfund process is community involvement, a point we will emphasize by requesting the formation of a Community Advisory Group (CAG) led by our organization and other local advocates and community leaders. 

I’m not going to sell you any nonsense that the river is going to be miraculously cleaned up. What will happen is that with the resources the federal and state governments bring to the table, we’re going to be able to study this river, get a plan created, and get to work on that plan. I will get this river cleaned up and give it back to you - the people who own it.

This is a big step in the right direction and improvement of our river. And today I am especially proud to be your Riverkeeper.
Sincerely,

Your Hackensack Riverkeeper

Captain Bill Sheehan