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Be Re-Warned, Do Not Eat Your Neighborhood Crabs By Kathy Urffer 
On March 25, Hackensack Riverkeeper (HRI), the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and five community based non-profits gathered at Spanish Sangria in Newark to kick off the beginning of the 2004 Crab Project. This partnership began last year when NJDEP announced a grant program to fund small community organizations to educate our communities about the dangers of eating Blue claw crabs from the Newark Bay Complex. The Newark Bay Complex includes the waters of the Newark Bay, Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull and the tributaries to these waters. Wildlife in these waters, particularly the crabs, are heavily contaminated with dioxin, an Agent Orange by-product and a known cancer-causing chemical. The poison, which is also known to cause other diseases, many of them fatal, was dumped in the lower Passaic River during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sadly, there are many river-side communities whose residents still utilize the damaged resource to provide food for their families. Over the years, Hackensack Riverkeeper has routinely seen people fishing and crabbing along the river and in the bay. We vigilantly notify people of the danger and encourage them to enjoy the river recreationally for catch and release only. For instance, last year, I intercepted three crabbers coming off the river with a bushel of crabs for their families. After a short conversation, which understandably caused some anger from the men, they sadly but willingly dumped the crabs back into the river. To the question, “When will they be safe to eat again?” our answer is always, “We don’t know, but probably not in our lifetime.” At times like this, it is most apparent that the polluters have stolen our resource from us. This year, HRI and representatives from these five groups will be working to protect the health of residents in our communities by educating them about the dangers of eating our local crabs. We will be tabling at outdoor events, mailing info to health departments, publishing information in our newsletters, providing signs in various public areas, making public service announcements and intercepting crabbers when we encounter them. The grant recipients for 2004 are: w Future City, Inc., Elizabeth w Elizabeth Presbyterian Center, Inc., Elizabeth w Carteret Health Department, Carteret w Ironbound Community Corp., Newark w Immigration and American Citizenship Organization (IACO), Passaic If you would like more information, contact Kathy Urffer at 201-968-0808, or kathyu@hackensackriverkeeper.org.
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