All things about the Passaic River “Fair Lawn—An innovative ecology class at Memorial Middle School has received a grant for a bundle of new computers and accessories from Hewlett-Packard. The class uses the Passaic River, which lies just behind the school, to illustrate math, history and science lessons. Students also work with municipal agencies responsible for regulating the river and document plant and animal life along a nature trail. The award includes a donation of five new table PCs, digital cameras, multimedia projectors and a $500 stipend for five sventh grade teachers. He total values of the grant is estimated at $35,000 . Memorial is one of six New Jersey schools and 174 K-12 schools nationwide to receive the grants.” “Passaic Valley Today” newspaper , Thurs., June 23. It was written by Eric Hsu. PICTURES from Ginny Chucka Forum  Join our message board. News: Dog rescued at Great Falls The American Heritage Rivers....Why isn't the Passaic listed here...email to help the cause... Trash Skimmer Last year, Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners (PVSC) christened the Skimmer Vessel "S.V. Newark Bay", a boat specially designed to remove "floatables" (debris found on the water's surface) from the Passaic River and Newark Bay. PVSC purchased the 50-foot pontoon-style trash skimmer (a United Marine International TRASHCAT™ model) through a grant from the State Office of Maritime Resources. [Full Story] Click on the map to zoom into the Watershed Amy Souers, online editor for American Rivers, is traveling cross country from Washington, DC to Seattle during the months of June and July. Check this page daily for her dispatches about the rivers and people she meets along the way! Read past dispatches of her account of the Passaic Birding on the Passaic Join a growing number of citizens sharing their stories and experiences. The Winter of 1947 remembered... Steve Garufi kayaked the river this summer, a dream God put in his heart! Watch what you say about New Jersey Steve!! Visit his website http://www.stevegarufi.com/passaicriver.htm and leave him a message!

Clean up the Passaic! On October 26th New Jersey Community Water Watch, a student chapter at Rutgers University, organized a cleanup of the Passaic River Bank Park in the Ironbound section of Newark. The students organized 25 people from the student body and the local community to help with the cleanup, which ran for more than 4 hours. The River Bank Park has been closed for over a year due to contamination of the soil with mercury and PCBs due to area's industrial history. Along with ground contamination, the river itself has six miles of Superfund sites (the nation's dirtiest and most toxic waste sites as deemed by the government) due to dumping of chemicals such as dioxin, a by-product of the infamous Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. If that is not enough, 30 million pounds of toxic waste were dumped directly into New Jersey's waterways - including the Passaic - in a 4-year period between 1992-1996. New Jersey Community Water Watch and its volunteers have been holding clean up events since 1997 in an attempt to reverse the trend of environmental degradation of New Jersey waterways. The clean up was a huge success. The Passaic Valley Sewage Commission showed up and brought volunteers and trucks to pick up the garbage bags that accumulated during the clean up. The impassioned volunteers worked at a steady pace as they gathered what amassed to be approximately five tons of trash that washed down the river and settled on the banks. As they progressed in the cleanup, they pulled out such things as soda bottles, motor oil containers, and rusted out sewerage pipes. After witnessing the volunteers pile up a mountain of trash bags, one begins to comprehend the reality of New Jersey's waters. Rutgers-Newark's Community Water Watch organizer, Crystal Chan, stated, "The relaxation of environmental laws by the Bush administration stress even more the importance for communities to come together activism concerning our waterways. In the few years that Community Water Watch has been cleaning New Jersey waters, volunteers in the program have pulled 1.5 million pounds of trash out of our waterways, educated over 75,000 students, and empowered communities around New Jersey to take control of their environment. Now that's something to be proud about." Written by Emad Ayesh Please contact me at cell 908 419 0210 if I do not pick up please leave a message with your contact information so I can get back to you. or my email address E087819@netzero.com Ella Filippone, executive director of the Passaic River Coalition, a conservation group, says the American Rivers designation underscores the urgency of cleaning up the river, and getting former and current polluters to take their responsibility seriously. [Full Story]

Popular Links Weather Conditions About the Passaic Where does it begin? What is its highest elevation? How long is it? How many counties does it span? How many towns does it flow through? What is its most northern point? What type of rock bed does it have? What type of fish are in the river? Towns along the River Flood Stages  Personal REFLECTIONS Mary Zanfino Responses to Reflections Email us to add your memories Postcards  from the collection of Ralph Bonadies Postcards  from the collection of Theodore Wyczynski