Passaic River Patrol Is On The Move

Second Season Brings More People Onto The River,

Sees Continued Legal Action

 

Last year, Hackensack River-keeper and our colleagues at NY/NJ Baykeeper and the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic collaborated to create the Passaic River Patrol as a means to focus attention to the problems facing the recovery of that great urban river. In 2004, we brought nearly 300 people - from schoolchildren to elected officials to soccer moms to local businesspeople - onto the Passaic aboard our pontoon boats thanks to our friends at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission who graciously offer us the use of their docking facilities. 

We also began a series of legal actions, the goal of which is to force the cleanup of some of the most contaminated places in America - most notably the site of the former Diamond Shamrock plant in Newark. Without a doubt, the lower Passaic River is the poster child for environmental justice. Dr. Martin Luther King said that “Justice delayed is justice denied.” We work to finally end the delay and the denial(s).

Beginning in May, we once again took to the Passaic in order to continue the fight and, right from the start, we witnessed firsthand the disregard that persists regarding the river. On a trip with students from Newark’s Discovery Charter School, we witnessed a discharge coming from the Benjamin Moore paint factory located right next to the Diamond Shamrock site. As soon as the plant personnel saw us taking pictures and using our cellphones (to report the incident to the NJDEP), the discharge stopped. The DEP is investigating.

Needless to say, we have our work cut out for us.