A new focus on the Lower Passaic River
The Lower Passaic River has long provided for the communities that live and work along its banks. Its waters powered America’s first manufacturing plants, housed crayfish, eel and bass, and fed families of farmers as well as herons and egrets. Industrialization and urbanization have only raised the stakes of stewardship. Today, the Lower Passaic flows by neighborhoods like the Ironbound district of Newark, where successive generations of industry have deposited an unsettled debt of mercury, dioxin, and PCBs in the river’s sediments. Shoreline degradation and climate change have exposed communities to the growing threats of storm surges and floods. The residents who bear the brunt of this burden also often lack physical access to the waterfront and the benefits of riverside life.
Against this backdrop, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have created the Lower Passaic Urban Waters Partnership. The partnership, a working group of governmental, non-profit, and community stakeholders, aims to break down agency silos, support and enhance local leadership, and leverage area resources to stimulate local economies. This work is growing in importance as plans move forward for the clean-up of the Superfund site. This January, the Hudson River Foundation and HEP have hired Sarah Lerman-Sinkoff to support the Partnership as the first Lower Passaic Urban Waters Ambassador. Housed at the Hudson River Foundation and Ironbound Community Corporation, Sarah will facilitate communication between the partners, advance and streamline the process of remediation, and connect affected communities with federal resources for restoration and sustainable development. She will also help HEP in its outreach efforts throughout the Estuary.
Sarah brings to the Partnership her background in conducting community-based environmental research, and experience in convening governmental and environmental justice stakeholders. Since graduating with Honors from Wesleyan in 2014, she coordinated the Barry Commoner Center’s conference on air quality and public health interventions, and managed WE ACT for Environmental Justice’s noise monitoring program. Sarah is grateful for this opportunity to work for environmental and public health, and looks forward to learning from the leaders who have built careers and lives around the Lower Passaic. Contact her at Sarah@harborestuary.org.