Posted on September 21, 2026
By J. Mayhew
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed $125 million settlement with Environmental Resource Holdings LLC to help advance the cleanup of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site along the Passaic River. This covers a 17-mile stretch from the Dundee Dam in Garfield down to Newark Bay.
Environmental Resource Holdings, owned by Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, will construct an upland processing plant. They’ll also build several support structures to allow dredging and capping work. These structures will remove water from the river and manage sediment before it’s hauled away for disposal.
The company must sample the lower 8.3 miles. It will also repay the EPA for future oversight expenses tied to this work.
“This is a huge step in cleaning up one of New Jersey’s most complex Superfund sites,” said EPA Region 2 administrator Michael Martucci, according to Patch. “The work laid out in this proposed settlement gets shovels in the ground and lays the foundation for dredging and that brings us one important step closer to a cleaner and restored Passaic River.”
Pollution at the site started in the 1940s and 1950s. A factory on Lister Avenue near the river made pesticides and herbicides, including components for Agent Orange. Dioxins and other dangerous chemicals seeped into surrounding soil and water over years of heavy industrial use.
In 1983, sampling revealed high dioxin amounts near the factory and in the river. Federal authorities put the site on the Superfund list the next year.
Environmental Resource Holdings is a potentially responsible party. The company succeeded Occidental Chemical Corporation and Diamond Alkali Company/Diamond Shamrock Corporation, which owned and ran the former plant.
U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez released a statement Tuesday welcoming the settlement, crediting his work with fellow New Jersey Democratic House members LaMonica McIver and Nellie Pou for pressing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldon and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to speed up the cleanup.
“We demanded action from the EPA and DOJ to protect our residents, and we fought alongside dedicated community advocates to get our residents long overdue progress,” Menendez stated, according to NJ.com.
Alejandra Torres assists with advocacy and organizing at the Newark-based Ironbound Community Corporation. She called the news thrilling. “We welcome this news,” Torres said Tuesday. “It’s an exciting step in the right direction.”
Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka thanked groups, environmental advocates, and residents who fought for the cleanup. The proposed consent decree was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day comment period.
