Kianni Keys

Passaic Watershed Lab

May 20, 2015
Slot F
Background/Abstract
The Passaic River is an 80 mile long river that runs from Mendham to the
Newark Bay. The three major sections of the river are the Highlands, the Central
Basin, and the Lower Valley. The Highlands have a tendency to have more flash
floods than the other two areas and less development due to the topography of the
Highlands. The Central Basin is made of meadows and swamps and has at least
27,000 of freshwater in those areas. The Lower Valley is the area that has the
Passaic River connecting to the Newark Bay and is the smallest consisting of 173
square miles. Since 1870, the Passaic River has been harmful because of its easy
flooding rate. Its had over five impacting floods, one of the worst being a flood in
1902 because of the snowmelt with 6 inches of rain. In 1976, the House Public
Works Subcommittee had a hearing about restricting the Plan, which included
building two dams and reservoirs, which was taken into consideration. Currently the
Passaic River is full of pollution and dioxins, multiple cleanups have commenced, but
the government needs to come in on the matter, which they have avoided for years.
I live in Montclair, New Jersey so the closest river to my house is the Second River
which connects to the Passaic River. Newark Academy is very close to a thin branch
off of the Passaic River, which leads to the main river. We are doing this lab to study
of the different areas of the rivers, having an actual river to gather information from
instead of a book is a nice source to take advantage of for learning purposes. It also
helps us become aware of how humans are treating the river, its floating with
pollution, and how the river needs human help to clean and take care of it so it can
be a fresh source, though that will take billions of dollars.
Current Event
Current event title: Christie vetoes bill that would have returned money to
Passaic River cleanup
URL: http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-vetoes-bill-that-would-have-returnedmoney-to-passaic-river-cleanup-1.1331675
Author: Scott Fallon Date: May 22, 2014
Governor Christie vetoed a bill that would provide money for Passaic River
cleanups. The bill issued that the industries that polluted the Passaic River would
pay money that would help the cleanups that have been lacking since the 20th
century. Christie was known for taking money meant for helping the environment
and using it to plug budget holes so the Legislature knew it was a longshot. In his
statement, Christie said using money from environmental settlements towards the
state budget strikes an appropriate balance between the environmental and fiscal
needs of the state and goes as far as possible to continue the restoration of the
natural spaces and waterways our citizens enjoy. My personal opinion/reaction on
this subject is disappointed. I was never a Christie lover (ever) but using money

meant for the environment then using it to cover up budget messes that he created,
when the river needed that money most, is wrong. If I was in power I would accept
the problems that Ive made, use the environmental money for environmental
problems, and find a way to clean up the budget problems without being sneaky.
Actually I wouldnt do that, but a good person would.
Discussion
Our study site location was the Passaic River, South side of South Orange
between Livingston and Florham Park. The study site when our class came in was
not the best of the Passaic Rivers days. You couldnt see the bottom of the river but
the part that stood out the most was the line of dead fish and crawfish at the shore
and in that particular section of the River. It was cloudy and misty outside, with the
temperature being slightly colder than the usual weather for that week. The sight
study test results for our group came back fair, which is the 2nd to last of four steps.
The biodiversity section that my group worked on didnt turn out very well either
besides the dead animals, an american robin, and larvae eating the exoskeleton of a
crawfish. Surprisingly the water pH was 7, so at that time there was no chemical
residue evidence that suggested the cause of the animals death. To be fair, our
group did find a nice variety of dead fish species. Even with the dead animals, the
results were pretty standard with the pH of the water being a neutral 7. The overall
result was fair which is one level up from poor, so overall the river didnt do that well,
probably because of the recent weather mixing up a lot of the sediment and flushing
(most likely) chemicals through the river that would mass murder the animals, but by
the time we got there it was gone, which is a good sign that there will be more alive
wildlife in the river for next time. The lower parts of the Passaic River are more
polluted because of the gathering of trash that begins at the head of the river. So if
we took data from the northern parts of the river there would be less pollution. The
data, besides temperature and biodiversity, would practically be the same because
the water quality doesnt change with the seasons, though in the winter the river
current will be slower by a lot if it gets really cold. It would be harder to get data in
the winter and fall and easier in the summer and spring, but the data would most
likely not change. The biggest threat to the water quality in the Passaic River is the
pollution, industrial abandonment, and constant resist of cleanup in the Passaic. The
more pollution, the more chemicals, the worse water quality, meaning the death of
much wildlife that lives in the Passaic due to the intolerability of polluted water. The
lower parts of the Passaic have to deal more with the pollution but the northern parts
of the Passaic have to deal with is the floods bringing in pollution after the water level
goes back to normal and that pollution heading to the lower parts of the river.