Portions of the Hackensack River Are Now a Superfund Site

Photo by CC by SA 3.0 Used with permission.

By ​Daniel T. McKillop, Esq.
Partner
Scarinci Hollenbeck 

On September 7, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is adding the southern 19 miles of the Hackensack River in Bergen and Hudson counties to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). “Superfund” designation is reserved for the most heavily polluted sites across the country. 

EPA will now conduct additional testing to determine the extent of the contamination and will move forward to identify “potentially responsible parties” (PRPs) who contributed to the contamination of the river.  PRPs will include current owners and operators of a contributing facility, parties that owned or operated a contributing facility at the time hazardous substances were disposed of, persons who arranged for treatment or disposal of hazardous substances, and transporters of hazardous substances who brought hazardous substances to the site.

​Once PRPs are identified they will be held responsible for costs associated with the remediation of the contamination, which may total several hundred million dollars. Businesses and persons who may be encompassed within the PRP categories with respect to the lower Hackensack River should work now to fully understand the Superfund process, assess their potential liability, and prepare to communicate with EPA on a going forward basis.  

By ​Daniel T. McKillop [email protected]