The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, called the Great Swamp, draining much of the northern portion of the state through its

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

. In its lower (southern) portion, it flows through the most urbanized and industrialized areas of the state, including along

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Newark. The lower river suffered from severe

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

and industrial abandonment in the 20th century. In April 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $1.7 billion plan to remove of toxic mud from the bottom of lower of the river. It is considered one of the most polluted stretches of water in the nation, and the project is one of the largest toxic cleanups ever undertaken in the nation.

Course

The Passaic River rises in the center of Mendham, in southern Morris County. According to Google Maps the river begins at Dubourg Pond located on private land between Spring Hill Road and Hardscrabble Road. This pond is fed by a very small stream that begins from a spring located approximately 1000 feet south west of the pond at the bend in Spring Hill Road. This spring is the likely true headwater of the Passaic River. Leaving Dubourg Pond the river travels northeast and crosses Corey Lane before entering the ''Buck Hill Tract Natural Area''. However At this point, the river begins to generally flow south, through Morristown National Historical Park, and forms the boundary between Morris and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

counties. In its current path, it passes through the southeast edge and drains Lord Stirling Park then along the western edge of the Great Swamp, which it drains through several small tributaries including Black Brook. The river passes through a

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

in Millington and then turns abruptly northeast, flowing through the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

between Long Hill to the west and the Second Watchung Mountain to the east. It forms the boundary between Morris and Union counties as it passes Berkeley Heights,

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital, national capital city of Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau; it had a population of 246 ...

, and

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

. Near Chatham it turns north, forming the boundary between Morris and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

counties. It passes Livingston and Fairfield, where it flows through the Hatfield Swamp and is joined by the

Rockaway River The Rockaway River is a tributary of the Passaic River, approximately 35 mi (56 km) long, in Morris County, New Jersey in the United States. The upper course of the river flows through a wooded mountainous valley, whereas the lower co ...

just after the Rockaway is joined by its own tributary, the Whippany River. Southwest of

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

it passes through the Great Piece Meadows, where it turns abruptly eastward and is joined at Two Bridges by its major tributary, the

Pompton River The Pompton River is a tributary of the Passaic River, approximately long, in Passaic County in northern New Jersey in the United States. It is formed south of the borough of Pompton Lakes by the confluence of the Ramapo and Pequannock river ...

, then meandering through

Little Falls, New Jersey Little Falls is a township in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township was named after a waterfall on the Passaic River at a dam near Beattie Mill. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 13,360 ...

as it drops over a fall, across some rapids, and under Passaic County Route 646 and an abandoned railroad trestle. Autumn Passaic River Chatham NJ

The river flows northeast into the city of Paterson, where it drops over the Great Falls of the Passaic. On the north end of Paterson, it turns abruptly south, flowing between Paterson and Clifton on the west and Hawthorne, Fair Lawn, Elmwood Park,

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

on the east, next through the city of Clifton. At Elmwood Park it begins to form Dundee Lake, created by the Dundee Dam built in 1845. The river becomes

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under ...

downstream of the Dundee Dam at the Eighth Street/Locust Ave Bridge in Wallington where the dredged Wallington Reach channel begins. Proceeding beyond the Wallington Reach, the river remains navigable via a series of maintained channels to its final destination,

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jerse ...

. It passes

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's 16th-most-populous municipality,Nutley and Belleville on the west; it flows past Rutherford, Lyndhurst, and North Arlington to the east. In its lowest reaches, it flows along the northeast portion of the city of Newark on the west, passing Kearny, East Newark, and Harrison on the eastern bank. Near downtown Newark it makes an abrupt easterly bend, then south around Ironbound, joining the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

at the northern end of Newark Bay, a back bay of

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

History

Geology

The Passaic River formed as a result of drainage from a massive proglacial lake that formed in

North Jersey North Jersey, also known as Northern New Jersey, comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. As a distinct toponym, North Jersey is a colloquial one rather than an a ...

at the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, approximately 13,000 years ago. That prehistoric lake is now known as Glacial Lake Passaic and was centered in the present lowland swamps of Morris County, forming because of a blockage of the normal drainage path. Eventually, the lake level rose high enough that the water flowed out of a new outlet. The Passaic River found a new path to the ocean via the Millington Gorge and the Paterson Falls as the glacier that covered the area retreated northward and the lake drained. As a result, the river as we now know it was born.

Native American weirs

Prior to European colonialization along the Passaic in the late 17th century, the valley was the territory of the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

groups now known as the Acquackanonk and Hackensack, who used the river for fishing. To that end they built

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s, or overflow dams, to create pools and where the fish could be trapped. Many of these archeological sites are still present and, in some cases, in good condition.

Economic development

The river was highly significant in the early industrial development of New Jersey. It provided a navigable route connected by canals to the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

starting in the late 18th century. It also was an early source of

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

at the Great Falls of the Passaic in Paterson, resulting in the early emergence of the area as the center of industrial mills.

Pollution

Much of the lower river suffered severe

during the 19th and 20th centuries because of industrial waste discharges to the river and improper waste disposal practices on adjacent land. Although the health of the river has improved due to implementation of the 1972

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

and other

environmental legislation Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, Convention (political norm), conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the ...

, and the decline of industry along the river, it still suffers from substantial degradation of

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

. The sediment at the mouth of the river near Newark Bay remains contaminated by pollutants such as dioxin. The dioxin was generated principally by the Diamond Shamrock Chemical Plant in Newark, as a waste product resulting from the production of the

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

defoliation chemical used during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The cleanup of the dioxin contamination on the bottom of the river is the subject of a major environmental

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

regarding the responsibility for the cleanup. In 2008, the EPA reached a settlement with Occidental Chemical Corporation and Tierra Solutions Inc. to clean a portion of the polluted river. A

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts: under Article Six of the State Consti ...

judge, ruling in July and September 2011, stated that Occidental and Maxus Exergy Corporation (a subsidiary of YPF) are liable for remediation in other portions of the river. In 2013, several corporate defendants agreed to pay the State of New Jersey $130 million for ecological damages related to Passaic River pollution. However, it is unclear as to whether the state will actually use this money for clean-up efforts. The

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...

(NJDEP) issued notices in 2009 banning commercial fishing and advising the general public that fish caught in the tidal Passaic River (from Dundee Dam to the mouth at Newark Bay) should not be eaten. The fish consumption advisories remain in effect as of 2020. In April 2014 EPA announced a $1.7 billion plan to remove of toxic mud from the bottom of lower of the river. It is considered one of the most polluted stretches of water in the nation and one of the biggest clean-ups project ever undertaken.

Economic decline and resurgence

The decline of manufacturing on the lower river has left a post-industrial landscape of abandoned and disused factories and other facilities. In particular, the stretch of the river along downtown Newark came to be regarded in the latter decades of the 20th century as particularly wretched. Starting in the 1990s, the lower river became the subject of federal and state urban restoration efforts, which have resulted in new construction along the riverfront, the city of Newark has constructed a riverfront walk from the Jackson Street Bridge to the Bridge Street Bridge. It is landscaped with trees, plants, flowers, and benches. Construction of office buildings has also taken place, including a regional headquarters building for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. While there has been a decline in the industrial use of the river, recreational use has increased since the early 1990s. There has been a long tradition of high school rowing by Kearny (since 1968), Belleville (1942, New Jersey's first public high school crew team), and Nutley High Schools and, in 1990, the historic Nereid Boat Club (founded in 1868) was revived, broadening participation in the sport of rowing on the Passaic River. In 1999, the Passaic River Rowing Association became the second rowing club along the banks of the Lower Passaic River. Today, the rowing community is very active through the two Rowing Clubs
Nereid Boat Club
and Passaic River Rowing Association) and ten high school crews that include Kearny, Belleville, Nutley, Don Bosco Prep, St. Peter's Preparatory School, Montclair, Ridgewood, Teaneck, Westfield, North Arlington (2012-13 School Year), and St. Benedict's Prep. The Passaic River is also host to the annua
Head of the Passaic Regatta
that has been held since 2001. Nutleyrowers

Commercial transport on the Lower Passaic hasn't entirely died. On December 3, 2008, a barge was loaded with

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

at the former W.A.S. Terminals in Newark, now Passaic River Terminals. Innovation Fuels LLC, one of the terminal's tenants, has plans to continue to sell two barge loads a month of biodiesel to customers in Europe. This is the first commercial barge in the river in over 15 years. Although they experienced some delays with the County drawbridges that have been neglected for years and had some problems with shoaling due to the lack of maintenance dredging, they remain undeterred and the Passaic River represents the cheapest and most efficient method to ship their cargo to its customers. Nxbascule3

Vantage points

The Passaic River can be accessed via a number of county parks. One notable park is Stanley Park between

and Chatham. Other parks along the river are located in Passaic County. As part of the ongoing Newark revitalization effort by the city government, parkland is proposed along the banks of the river. The Passaic River generally is free of industrialization until it reaches the Summit and Chatham border. The upper portion of the river, above Summit and Chatham, are more natural in appearance and the river has more of a young river character in places. The middle portion of the river flows through natural marshlands and forested areas in Essex County, which are generally inaccessible, and then through heavily populated areas of Passaic County where it is accessible via parallel roads and parks. Lower portions of the river, south of Paterson are wider, more industrialized, and more mature in nature. Kearny Riverbank Park and Riverbank Park in Newark both provide waterfront access. The banks of the lower few miles (kilometers) of the river mainly are industrialized.

Flooding problems

The Passaic River is known for chronic

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

problems during periods of heavy rainfall or snow-melt, especially where the Pompton River joins the Passaic River on the border of Fairfield, Lincoln Park, and Wayne. The two rivers form a sizable

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

in this area. Building has been allowed in the flood plain and during extreme weather events that occur on a fairly regular basis, homes and businesses in the flood plain become flooded. A plan has been proposed to build a massive structure, the Passaic River Flood Tunnel, to divert the periodic floodwaters southeasterly into Newark Bay, thus relieving these flooding problems upstream. Some residents have accepted buy-outs from the federal government while the concept of constructing a flood tunnel is debated, however, many residents still live within the flood plain and flooding appears to be growing worse as the land in the Passaic River basin continues to be developed.

Little Falls River Gauge

Th
Little Falls River Gauge
along the Passaic River is located just south of the junction with the Pompton River, in an area that frequently floods. Flood stage is at this location.

Floods

On February 28, 1902, there was severe flooding of the river. On October 10, 1903, one of the worst floods on record happened. The water crest was and severe flooding of Little Falls, Paterson, as well as many other areas along the river. Other high crests were: on April 7, 1984; on April 18, 2007; and on March 16, 2010. On April 23, 2010, Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

issued an order creating the ''Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission''. In January 2011 a report was issued, mentioning the 2010 flood, and the result was for municipalities to change their master plans and change local flood damage prevention ordinances, which would include such things as elevating structures, and to stop expansion into flood zones. The areas considered prone to continual flooding are Acid Brook, Buttermilk Falls, Haycock Brook, Mahwah River, Masonicus Brook, Packanack Brook, Pequannock River, Plog Brook, Pompton River, Ramapo River, Third River, Wanaque River, and Wolf Creek. On August 30, 2011 there was another flood with a crest. The flood control issue had been considered as far back as 1870 and there were studies in 1939, 1948, 1962, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1987, and 1995 with minimum results from report suggestions.

In the arts and literature

A poem about the river was written by John Alleyne Macnab in 1890, and put to music by

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

. The river hosted a group of Inuit plantation workers on the run in the 2004 short story, "From Out of the River", by beat laureate Spencer Hash. The river, and especially its Great Falls, plays a large part in

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

's epic poem Paterson. From 2006 to 2008, writer Wheeler Antabanez traveled the Passaic River and its shores, chronicling his adventures in a special issue of ''

Weird NJ ''Weird NJ'' (sometimes abbreviated ''WNJ'') is a semi-annual magazine that chronicles local legends, purported hauntings, ghost stories, folklore, unusual places or events, and other peculiarities in New Jersey. The magazine originated in 1989 ...

'' magazine. ''Nightshade on the Passaic'' was released as a special issue of the magazine and quickly became its best-selling issue, confirming readers' interest in stories involving the Passaic River."Nightshade on the Passaic."
''Weird NJ,'' July 2008 Special Issue, Stock No. 9631. . Antabanez intentionally did not want the special issue to be a history lesson of New Jersey or the river but instead wanted it to be a

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

-style adventure story. In his canoe, Nightshade, Antabanez visits the most dangerous parts of the Passaic, along with several of the abandoned buildings and factories that relied on the Passaic years ago. In addition to the river and the decaying structures that surround it, he also researched murders that involved the Passaic River, including the horrific case of Jonathan Zarate, who attempted to dump the mutilated body of his 16-year-old neighbor in the river but was thwarted by a police officer who happened to pass by at the time.Klein, Corey
"Where we see a beast, he sees a beauty."
''South Bergenite.'' July 2, 2008.

Tributaries

(As encountered traveling upstream to its source): * First River (a.k.a. Mill Brook) * Second River or Watsessing River * Third River or Yanticaw River * McDonalds Brook (originally ''Mineral Spring Brook'') * Weasel Brook * Saddle River ** Ho-Ho-Kus Brook * Fleischer Brook * Lyncrest Brook * Little Diamond Brook PassaicRiverNorthBend