Contaminant Assessment and Reduction Program (CARP) Overview

As related to Contaminants Being Discharged to the Passaic River

G. M. DeGraeve

Great Lakes Environmental Center, 739 Hastings Street, Traverse City, MI  (231) 941-2230, (231) 941-2240, mick@glec-tc.com, www.glec.com

The Contaminant Assessment and Reduction Program (CARP) is a sampling and assessment program funded by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and performed by the states of New York and New Jersey, with cooperation from EPA Region II, the Hudson River Foundation, US Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Harbor Dischargers Group (NJHDG).  The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners (PVSC) was the lead agency for the NJHDG, and was responsible (in cooperation with Great Lakes Environmental Center) for sampling and measuring a wide range of contaminants in POTW, stormwater and combined sewer overflow discharges.  In addition, the Stevens Institute of Technology was responsible for sampling and measuring contaminant concentrations in the New Jersey tributaries to the Harbor.  The collected data are being used by EPA Region II and the States of New York and New Jersey to evaluate the current water and sediment quality throughout the Harbor and the major tributaries to the Harbor, as well as to develop a predictive water/sediment quality model to be used to make water/sediment quality management decisions.

This platform presentation will focus on stormwater outfall (SWO) and combined sewer overflow (CSO) data collected by PVSC for discharges to the Passaic River and Newark Bay, as well as on SWO/CSO data collected throughout the New Jersey portion of the Harbor.  In addition, ambient contaminant data from the CARP program for the Passaic River and Newark Bay will be discussed in relation to the measured SWO/CSO contaminant data.