An Environmental History of the Harrison Reach of the Lower Passaic River, 1666-2006

Stephen G. Marshall (1) and Tammy A. Marshall (2)

(1) P.O. Box 524, 35 Beaver Brook Road, Lincoln Park, New Jersey 07035,  973-628-8131 gateur@aol.com

(2) New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, 1 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071,
201-460-2808, Tammy.Marshall@njmeadowlands.gov

The two-mile stretch of the lower Passaic River between Point No Point and the Jackson Street Bridge is widely considered to be the most polluted section of one of the most polluted rivers in the United States.  Most of the Harrison Reach, however, had once been bordered by tidal wetlands which remained largely undeveloped for nearly two centuries after Newark's initial settlement.  Development began during the 1830s; with the construction of railroad tracks along the northern riverbank and the Morris Canal on the south side of the river though what is now Newark's Ironbound district.  Intensive siting of transportation facilities, including PATH and the N.J. Turnpike, characterized most of the northern riverbank. 

Substantial pollution began in the 1850s with the construction of bone-based fertilizer factories by English immigrants Alfred and Edwin Lister.  The Army Corps of Engineers began dredging the lower Passaic River in the 1870s, increasing its depth to 20 feet and facilitating further industrial development and pollution along the Reach and upriver.  Later construction of dams and reservoirs along the Pequannock River and other tributaries of the Upper Passaic diverted large amounts of fresh water and altered the salinity gradient of the Lower Passaic.  Wetlands bordering the southern riverbank were filled in by the Manufacturer's Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey during the 1890s for the specific purpose of creating new industrial sites.  These were occupied by paint factories and metal processing plants which produced organic and inorganic pollutants.  Chemical engineer Leon Kolker selected 80 Lister Avenue as the site of Kolker Chemical Works.  It became one of the nation's largest producers of DDT during the 1940s and, after its acquisition by the Diamond Alkali Corporation, of Agent Orange during the 1960s.  Research for this project was partly funded by the N.J. Historical Commission.