Two Draft Study Plans for Fish at Diamond Alkali Superfund Site in New Jersey Released

Mummichog fish (Credit: NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Collection)

March 18, 2021

As federal trustees for natural resources, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are initiating studies to assess natural resource injuries related to the release of hazardous substances from or near the Diamond Alkali Superfund site. The site, centered in Newark, New Jersey, includes the Lower Passaic River, Newark Bay, and other areas.

The federal trustees are providing the following draft study plans for public review and comment:

The federal trustees have developed these draft plans to build upon previously released plans that collectively assessed adverse effects to fish from releases of hazardous substances which contaminated the Lower 17.4-mile stretch of the Passaic River and other areas of the Superfund Site.

As trustees, the agencies assess the injuries to natural resources from hazardous substance releases, and work to achieve restoration of these injuries and resulting losses. The goal of natural resource damage assessment and restoration is to replace, restore or acquire the equivalent of the resources and recreational opportunities affected by contamination – at no cost to taxpayers. This process is distinct from, but coordinated with cleanup activities overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The draft studies are intended to provide results that will assist the trustees in assessing the scope and scale of injuries, and in turn help consider the type and quantity of natural resource restoration. Remedial actions and natural resource damage assessment activities at sites as expansive and complex as the Diamond Alkali Superfund site often take years to complete.