Navigating a Superfund river investigation

Navigating multiagency oversight and a large stakeholder group within New Jersey’s Passaic River project

To remediate and restore 17 miles of New Jersey’s Passaic River, the Lower Passaic River (LPR) restoration project was initiated. The affected Lower Passaic River Study Area (LPRSA) region is urban, densely populated and heavily industrialized. The river contains tidally influenced waterbody sediments impacted by industrial activities along the river going back to the 1800s. The sediments contain organic and inorganic toxins that have been transported upstream and downstream due to daily reversals of the tide, causing New Jersey to prohibit consuming fish or shellfish from the LPR and Newark Bay.

Joining forces to create positive impact

The potentially responsible parties (PRPs) formed a Cooperating Parties Group (CPG) comprised of more than 60 companies. The CPG selected AECOM to be part of a consultant team to develop and implement a comprehensive remedial investigation for the entire 17 miles and provide support for key aspects of its feasibility study.

This joint interagency project between Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act – also known as CERCLA or Superfund – and Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is part of a CPG and USEPA negotiated settlement agreement to complete a remedial investigation and feasibility study.

Charting the path forward

Since 2006, AECOM managed and performed field investigations and produced the project’s baseline human health risk assessment. Teams conducted sediment and water column monitoring activities along the 17-mile stretch and assisted in the collection of fish tissue samples.

A remedial investigation (RI) provides critical information to determine potential remedies that are then evaluated in the feasibility study (FS) step. An RI method was developed and used to accurately identify site conditions along the entire stretch, including the tidally influenced stretch of the Passaic River between the mouth of the river and the Dundee Dam to Newark Bay.

AECOM’s RI tasks have included review and comment on USEPA documents, completion of multiple bathymetry surveys, preparation of work plans and QAPPs, and execution of multiple sediment coring and water column monitoring programs.

Focused feasibility study guides work toward project progress

Based on the findings within the remedial investigation and feasibility study steps, the USEPA developed a focused feasibility study to address the source area within the lower 8.3 miles of the river. A potentially responsible party agreed is conducting the cleanup under USEPA oversight.

To deliver an interim cleanup action in the upper nine miles of the LPRSA much sooner than first anticipated, the CPG proposed evaluating an interim cleanup to address sources there. The interim cleanup action will be followed by post-cleanup monitoring and the development of risk-based cleanup goals. For this FS, AECOM completed a waterways conditions assessment survey, developed a preliminary cap evaluation, and developed risk-based target concentrations. AECOM developed short-term effectiveness metrics and adaptive management and long-term monitoring plans.

The USEPA will issue a final Record of Decision following the completion of the interim cleanup actions. The project’s progress can be tracked at its official USEPA site.