TRENTON — A major chemical company must help pay for cleaning up the lower Passaic River polluted decades ago by a Newark pesticide manufacturing plant, a state Superior Court judge has ruled. Occidental Chemical Corp. is liable for past and future cleanup costs associated with pollution caused by the former Diamond Alkali/Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Corp. plant on Lister Avenue,...
A view of the Passaic River in Paterson, in this June 2011 Star-Ledger file photo. An N.J. Superior Court judge ruled that Occidental Chemical Corp. must pay for some of the river's cleanup efforts.TRENTON — A major chemical company must help pay for cleaning up the lower Passaic River polluted decades ago by a Newark pesticide manufacturing plant, a state Superior Court judge has ruled.
Occidental Chemical Corp. is liable for past and future cleanup costs associated with pollution caused by the former Diamond Alkali/Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Corp. plant on Lister Avenue, which it acquired in the 1980s, according to the ruling issued by Judge Sebastian Lombardi.
Diamond operated a pesticide and herbicide manufacturing facility from 1951 to 1969, polluting the river with an extremely toxic form of dioxin left over from the production of the Vietnam-era Agent Orange, DDT and other chemicals.
State environmental officials and Gov. Chris Christie hailed the ruling, handed down last week, as a victory for taxpayers who will be reimbursed for their investment to clean up the waterway.
"It has always been our steadfast position that all companies, not just Occidental Chemical, own up to their responsibility for the environmental damages that they and their predecessors caused," Christie said in a statement.
Occidental, one of eight companies named in a lawsuit filed by the state, will be liable for its portion of the cleanup and removal of contaminated sediment, the judge ruled. An actual cost, and Occidental’s portion, has yet to be determined.
Eric Moses, a spokesman for Occidental, said in a statement that the company never owned or operated the Lister plant because it was closed before Occidental purchased Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Co. from Maxus Energy Corp. in 1986. He said Maxus is liable for the site and has agreed to pay for the cleanup.
A second motion pending before the judge seeks a similar ruling against Tierra Solutions, a Maxus affiliate, DEP said.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing the river’s restoration, estimates it will cost $1 billion to $4 billion to clean up the most heavily polluted eight-mile portion of the waterway nearest to the plant.
In an agreement separate from the state’s lawsuit, the EPA in 2008 struck a deal with Occidental and Tierra Solutions to spend $45 million removing 200,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the river in two phases.
Tierra Solutions will soon begin removing 40,000 cubic yards of the most contaminated sediments immediately adjacent to the old pesticide plant, according to DEP. Tierra is also making plans to remove an additional 160,000 cubic yards.
Deborah Mans, executive director of NY/NJ Baykeeper, said it was time for Occidental to own up to the pollution.
"Decades have passed since the original discovery of the pollution with no action taken," Mans said. "During that time, contaminated sediment has moved from the Diamond Alkali site into Newark Bay and the NY/NJ Harbor. Now, 17 miles of the lower Passaic River and the Newark Bay have been declared a Superfund site."
Dioxin concentrations in Passaic River fish and crabs are among the highest reported in the world and present an imminent and substantial danger to the public and wildlife, according to DEP. Eating them would greatly increase the risk of cancer.