The people of New Jersey have waited far too long for the Passaic River to be cleaned up. The Small Parties Group is working to finally move this process forward.
The Passaic River can be a cornerstone in the revitalization of neighboring communities. But none of this can happen until the Passaic River is cleaned up and the environmental damage has been reversed. This effort for a Cleaner Passaic River Now is critical to residents of the surrounding communities, to the people of Essex, Passaic and Bergen counties, and to all nine million people living in New Jersey.
Why isn't the Passaic River cleanup happening?
OxyChem is blocking it.
After an extensive process set up to assign responsibility for the Passaic River’s contamination, an EPA-retained neutral expert (with the assistance of his technical team) determined that OxyChem should bear more than 99.9% of the responsibility for cleaning up the River. Since that time, 85 other companies have come to an agreement with the EPA on cleanup costs, stepping up to the plate to be a part of the solution for the Passaic River.
​
Even though these companies collectively were found to be responsible for only 0.1% of the contamination compared to OxyChem, they have agreed to pay more than 800 times that amount as part of their proposed settlement with the federal government. Other companies are also interested in resolving their potential responsibility and hope to have that opportunity shortly.
OxyChem has already been found liable for the contamination in the Lower Passaic River by two separate courts. But instead of joining the companies that are accepting responsibility and doing what is best for the Passaic River and the hundreds of thousands of residents that live nearby, OxyChem is spreading misinformation about the EPA’s proposed settlement. It is making a last-ditch, desperate effort to derail the EPAs settlement by making incorrect statements about the EPA as part of OxyChem’s plan to avoid paying its fair share. OxyChem is misleading the public and using scare tactics to protect its own huge profits!
OXYCHEM WAS FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR 99.9% OF THE POLLUTION
For decades, OxyChem’s corporate predecessor Diamond Alkali purposely dumped wastes from its manufacture of Agent Orange into the Passaic River. These wastes contained a litany of hazardous substances including DDT and 2,3,7,8-TCDD, a particularly toxic form of Dioxin which EPA identified as principally driving the need for a cleanup. Courts have already determined that Diamond Alkali’s conduct was egregious even by the standards of the day. This is not the first time OxyChem has had to face responsibility for the Passaic River contamination. Yet for years, OxyChem has spent millions to delay cleanup and skirt its full responsibility.
ONLY OXYCHEM BENEFITS FROM FURTHER DELAYS
OxyChem has spent millions of dollars on lawyers and consultants that have successfully delayed the cleanup for decades to avoid having to pay to fix the problems it caused. In fact, the U.S. government has stated that if not for OxyChem’s pollution, the Lower Passiac River may not be a Superfund site today. OxyChem’s latest media blitz has included running several full-page paid advertisements in the Washington Post and NJ Spotlight that were riddled with falsehoods and half-truths.