News 12 New Jersey

STATION:  NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY

DATE/TIME: 11/29/00       5:OOPM

LENGTH: 2:25

WALT KANE, ANCHOR:  It's one of the most heavily polluted rivers in our country. Now federal officials say they have a plan to clean up the Passaic River.

DELLA CREWS, ANCHOR: News 12 New Jersey's Sheri Hensley reports the longest river in North Jersey could be restored environmentally and economically because of this landmark report.

SHERI HENSLEY, REPORTER: It's been called an open sewer. After more than a century of pollution, the Passaic River is one of the dirtiest waterways in the country.

REP. BOB MENENDEZ: (Excerpt of press conference) Year after year we see the Passaic on the list of at-risk rivers. And now we're taking steps to improve the river's condition so that it's no longer an impediment to our area's redevelopment plans.

HENSLEY:   Federal officials have secured one hundred thousand dollars for a year-long study by the Army Corps of Engineers, The Passaic River Restoration initiative will look at ways to restore the lower portion of the polluted waterway between the Dundee Dam and Newark Bay. The goal of the study is to come up with a comprehensive plan to clean-up the Passaic River. The first step is to identify all points of pollution along the entire river.

REP. BILL PASCRELL: (Excerpt of press conference) This includes combines or overflows, sanitary store overflows and storm water discharge.

HEIRSLEY:   The study will also give an In-depth analysis of contaminated sediments along the river and the safest ways to remove them,

RICHARD GINELLO, MARITIME RESOURCES: (Excerpt of press conference) Sediment at the bottom of the river, especially in the more urbanized stretches of it, contains a myriad of contaminants from past industrial practices.

HENSLEY:Officials say theclean-up is crucial to the restoration of Newark’s waterfront, which includes a park along the river bank.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Excerpt of press conference) Our residents can enjoy, our visitors can enjoy dining at the riverfront, cruising on the riverfront, entertainment and other retail establishments there.

HENSLEY:When complete, the study will I determine whether a federal project can restore the Passaic to what it once was. In Newark, Sheri Hensley, News 12 New Jersey.

CREWS: Funding for the study was included in the 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill that was signed by President Clinton earlier this month. The Passaic study will serve as a national model forthe restoration of other urban waterways here in the US.