doi:10.2489/jswc.75.2.33A FEATURE How did the Passaic River, a Superfund site near Newark, New Jersey, become an Agent Orange dioxin TCDD hotspot? Kenneth R. Olson and Mike Tharp he Passaic River name was derived from an Algonquian word meaning Figure 1 T “peaceful valley.” In the mid-1900s, New York Harbor and the location of the storm surge barrier locations in Long this peaceful valley in New Jersey, United Island Sound and Lower New York Bay. States, became a major exporter of a pow- The Bronx Long Island erful herbicide, Agent Orange, which was Sound Hackensack River Hudson used as a chemical weapon during the Paterson River Vietnam War. The unintended conse- Grand quences of the use of this deadly herbicide Passaic River Central were often fatal to military personnel, chemical plant workers, and Vietnam- New Jersey New York East East River ese civilians (Thomas and Kang 1990; River La Barrier Guardia Jersey Long Island Schecter et al. 1995). Those affected in Newark City Manhattan Copyright © 2020 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation some way by Agent Orange number in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Newark Air Port Statue of Liberty millions (NAS 1974; Schecter et al. 1995). Newark JFK Bay Jamaica Bay Moreover, evidence is mounting that the Kill Van Kull effects of exposure to Agent Orange linger Staten Jones Inlet through generations of people (Institute Arthur Island Upper Barrier Kill New East Rockaway Barrier of Medicine 1994; Constable and Hatch York Bay Atlantic 1985; Stockbauer et al. 1988). Addition- Ocean Lower New Outer Harbor Gateway Legend ally, in the United States, one of the most York Bay Raritan Bay N Gateway massive environmental cleanups in his- Sandy Water Hook Barrier Point tory—costing billions of dollars—has New York Cities been necessary to try to protect residents Airports New Jersey 4.5 km 75(2):33A-37A of New Jersey and neighboring areas from New Jersey 75(2):33A-37A 3 mi the lasting impacts of the Agent Orange chemical manufacturing plant on the Pas- saic River. The current 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodiben- lion with a need for US$6 billion more for waterway to the ocean. The Passaic River www.swcs.org www.swcs.org zodioxin (C12H4Cl4O2; TCDD) pollution cleanup and another US$6 billion for natural now drains into the Newark Bay and flows in the Passaic River dates back to the 1940s, resource restoration. The dioxin TCDD- parallel with the lower Hudson River well before the Vietnam War when the US contaminated sediment in the Passaic River along the west side of Staten Island and military used Agent Orange to kill jungle has a very long half-life in sediment (Olson into Raritan Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. vegetation and Vietnamese food crops and Morton 2017, 2019) and remains an The river is 120 km (80 mi) long with including cassava (Manihot esculenta), maize environmental and food supply problem in a 2,422 km2 (1,505 mi2) watershed and (Zea mays), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), the Passaic River and Newark Bay. To this has been developed as a source of power and nuts. However, Agent Orange was inef- day, the harvesting of fish and crabs from the and water. It flows into the Great Swamp fective when sprayed on the South Vietnam lower Passaic River is banned (New Jersey lowland between the ridge hills of rural rice (Oryza sativa) crop. Agent Blue, the Department of Environmental Protection and suburban northern New Jersey. The arsenic (As) based rice killer was used on 2009). The sediment is still too contaminated Passaic River headwaters are in Mendham. the rice paddies. with dioxin TCDD and remains a threat to The river flows south into Morristown A company called Diamond Alkali both the food supply and human health. manufactured Agent Orange in its Newark factory, which was next to the Passaic River. PASSAIC RIVER GEOLOGY AND HISTORY Kenneth R. Olson is a US Army Vietnam vet- The contaminants—spilled, washed, or The Passaic River formed from a massive eran and professor emeritus of soil science in the Department of Natural Resources, College leaked Agent Orange—drained into the proglacial lake that developed in north- of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Passaic River via trenches and pipes. The ern New Jersey approximately 13,000 Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Il- chemical plant has now been destroyed and years ago. The glacial ice sheet blocked linois. Mike Tharp is a US Army Vietnam vet- contaminated soil incinerated. However, the the normal drainage path to the north. eran who won a Bronze Star; he’s a former Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reporter Passaic River has become a Superfund site, The overflowing lake drained out through and experienced war correspondent. and cleanup costs to date total US$1.3 bil- the new path (figure 1), the present-day JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION MARCH/APRIL 2020—VOL. 75, NO. 2 33A Natural Historical Park, passes through the end of the growing season (Galston Figure 2 Lord Stirling Park, and then along the 1943). Galston also noted that in higher The Great Falls of the Passaic River. western side of the Great Swamp. The concentrations, it would cause soybeans Passaic River drains northeast to Paterson to lose leaves. Galston’s discovery led to and over the Great Falls of Passaic (figure the development of a precursor (TIBA) to 2) and into Dundee Lake. The Dundee Agent Orange (Olson and Morton 2019). Dam was built in 1845. Approximately 4 In 1943 Galston moved to the California km (2.4 mi) below the dam, the river is Institute of Technology to work with navigable to Raritan Bay before emptying Nobel Prize winner George Beadle on into the Atlantic Ocean. World War II defense-related research. The Passaic flows through the most Galston joined the navy in 1944 and industrialized and urbanized areas of New served as a natural resources officer while Jersey. The lower river suffered industrial stationed in Okinawa, Japan, until World abandonment (figure 3) and severe pollu- War II was over. tion in the twentieth century. The chemical In 1951, biological warfare scientists manufacturing site is on the floodplain and at Fort Detrick, Maryland, began inves- subject to erosion of the soil and sediment tigating the possible uses of defoliant Figure 3 Copyright © 2020 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved. contaminated by toxic waste including herbicides based on Galston discoveries The gravel parking lot where the chemi- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation dioxin TCDD, polychlorinated biphenyls while working with TIBA. US military cal plant was removed in Newark, New (PCBs), and mercury (Hg) (Fallon 2019; researchers eventually produced the toxic Jersey, along the Passaic River. The floodwall is visible in the background. Brickley and Morgenson 2018). During defoliant Agent Orange, which was used periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, in the 1950s by the British air force dur- the Passaic River has flooding prob- ing the Malayan Emergency and later in lems—especially at the confluence of the the 1960s by the US Air Force, Navy, and Pompton and Passaic rivers. Historically, Army during the Vietnam War. building has been allowed on these flood- Since the 1940s, the 2,4-dichloro plains, which has resulted in homes and phenoxy acetic acid, C8H6Cl2O3 (2,4- businesses now being frequently flooded. D), and 2,4,5-trichloro phenoxy acetic 75(2):33A-37A A plan has been proposed to build a 32 acid, C8H5Cl3O3 (2,4,5-T), herbicides km (20 mi)-long flood tunnel to divert were used separately in the United States the periodic flood waters directly into (Olson and Morton 2019). Agent Orange, original Agent Orange by-product con- Newark Bay (Romano 1992). a 50:50 mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, taminant levels (Sills 2014). Military field was only produced for the US military. tests, including some in Florida, were www.swcs.org DISCOVERY, FORMULATION, CREATION, Both of these herbicides have a relatively conducted with Agent Orange that was AND MANUFACTURE OF THE HERBICIDE short half-life when exposed to sunlight. manufactured in the 1960s (Young and AGENT ORANGE DIOXIN TCDD IN THE Unfortunately, the manufacturing process Newton 2004). PASSAIC RIVER VALLEY used to make 2,4,5-T created a by-product The US government passed the Hitchcock and Zimmerman at Boyce or contaminant dioxin, TCDD, which has Defense Production Act in 1950. The gov- Thompson Institute (1935) found absorp- a much longer half-life (50 to 100 years ernment, as a nation at war, compelled 11 tion and movement of synthetic growth or more) (Olson and Morton 2019). The companies to create, produce, and supply substance from soil resulted in a response two herbicides, when buried under anaer- Agent Orange to the military. From 1965 by the aerial part of the plant. In the 1940s obic conditions in the subsoil or attached to 1969, 11 wartime government contrac- botanists tried to initiate flowering by to clay and organic matter particles trans- tors that manufactured Agent Orange only applying small quantities of various chem- ported as sediment, settle to the bottom of produced it for the US military (Olson and icals to different plants. Zimmerman and a river or lake. Initially, the dioxin TCDD Morton 2019), and it was not sold to the Hitchcock (1942) found that 2,3,5-triio- contaminant levels were in the range of public. These companies included Dow dobenzoic acid (TIBA) induced flowering 0.05 ppm (Sills 2014). However, to meet Chemical, Monsanto Company, Hercules in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants the needs of the US military, approxi- Inc., Diamond Shamrock Corporation when either applied to soil or used as a mately 4.26 × 107 L (1.126 × 107 gal), the (previously Diamond Alkali), Hooker spray on the leaves of the plants.