Berry's Creek (sometimes referred to as ''Berrys Creek'' or ''Berry Creek'') is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 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 subur ...

in the

New Jersey Meadowlands New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for the large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of N ...

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The creek

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

contains a diverse array of wetlands, marshes, and wildlife. The creek runs through a densely populated region and has been subject to extensive industrial

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

during the 19th and 20th centuries. Several companies discharged toxic chemicals into the creek in the 20th century, and these chemicals have remained in the sediment. The creek has the highest concentrations of

methyl mercury Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is ...

of any fresh-water sediment in the world. Portions of the creek watershed are

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

sites and cleanup projects began in the late 20th century.

History

The creek is named for Major John Berry, an early British settler and Deputy

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

. Settlement of New Jersey by European colonists began in the 17th century. Increasing settlements in the early 19th century were accompanied by human alterations to the land in the Hackensack meadowlands, such as clearing forests; building roads, railroads and ditches; and filling wetlands. The

Second Industrial Revolution The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardization, mass production and industrialization from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The Firs ...

led to construction of heavy manufacturing, storage tanks, and chemical processing plants in the area during the late 19th & early 20th centuries. Upland areas in the Berry's Creek watershed were developed by 1900. In the 1930s municipal sewage discharges began to contribute significant amount of pollutants to the creek and the Hackensack River. (All sewage pipes to the creek were removed by the 1990s.) Urbanization in the region intensified after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with the expansion of roads and highways, including the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...

(1952), as well as the

Meadowlands Sports Complex The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports complex located in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The complex currently consi ...

(1970s). Tide gates were installed in the 1960s to control flooding, and these installations altered the water levels and flows, which consequently altered the ecosystem. The filling of wetlands during the 20th century amounted to a 63% loss of wetlands in the watershed.

Course

Berry's Creek is largely a

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, along with the Hackensack River. It rises at the East and West Riser Ditches in

Teterboro Teterboro ( ) is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 67,Teterboro Airport Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey.Moonachie and Carlstadt. In

East Rutherford East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

, the creek forms the western boundary at Walden Marsh, of the

. Additional portions of the creek are located in Wood-Ridge. Continuing under Route 3, the creek divides into the creek mainstem and ''Berry's Creek Canal''. The canal was built in 1911, and runs in a straight line through East Rutherford to the Hackensack River. The creek mainstem enters Rutherford and then forms the boundary between Rutherford and Lyndhurst until it reaches the Hackensack.

Watershed

The Berry's Creek watershed is , which includes of tidal waterways and marshes and of highly-developed upland areas. Within the watershed are many commercial and light industrial sites, portions of the sports complex, several closed

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

s, and many roads and highways. Walden Marsh was built in the 1980s adjacent to the sports complex, as part of environmental mitigation for flood prevention measures that were installed. By 2000, 30 such structures existed along the Hackensack confluence.

Pollution and remediation

Mercury concentrations in surface sediment of Berry's Creek NJ

Berry’s Creek was subject to extensive industrial

during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Ventron/Velsicol site

F.W. Berk and Company, a chemical processing firm in Wood-Ridge and Carlstadt, discharged untreated waste, including

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, into the creek between 1929 and 1960. In 1960 Berk sold its property to Wood Ridge Chemical Corporation, a subsidiary of

Velsicol Chemical Corporation Velsicol Chemical Corporation is an American chemical company based in Rosemont, Illinois that specializes in reaction intermediate#Chemical processing industry, chemical intermediates for applications such as agrochemicals. It was founded in 19 ...

, and the waste discharges continued. In the 1960s the

New Jersey Department of Health The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. New Jersey's State Board of Health was established in 1877. Its administrative functions were vested in the Department of Health, which was crea ...

conducted tests of the plant effluent, although the principal focus at that time was

conventional pollutant A conventional pollutant is a term used in the USA to describe a water pollutant that is amenable to treatment by a municipal sewage treatment plant. A basic list of conventional pollutants is defined in the U.S. Clean Water Act. The list has been ...

s, for which there were well-established analytical testing methods. (Some wastewater samples were analyzed for mercury, however the results were negative due to the insensitivity of the test method employed.) In 1968 the plant was sold to Ventron, which continued operations, although the company also began to study the environmental impacts of its discharges. In 1970 the newly-established

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

(EPA) also began tests of the plant wastewater, and found there were daily discharges of two to four pounds of mercury into Berry's Creek. Neither the state nor EPA filed formal charges against the plant at that time. Plant operations ended in 1974, when Ventron sold the property to Robert M. Wolf, a real estate developer. In 1976, 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 staff o ...

(NJDEP; successor to the Dept. of Health) filed a lawsuit against Ventron and other parties for violating the recently-enacted ''New Jersey Water Quality Improvement Act of 1971.'' The state enacted a new chemical spill law in 1977, the ''Spill Compensation and Control Act,'' and additional charges under this law were added to the lawsuit. In 1983 the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the ...

held that Ventron and Velsicol were jointly liable for the environmental damage. The creek has been measured as having the highest concentration of

of any fresh-water sediment in the world. Between 1 and 2 g of mercury per kg of sediment were detected in samples. A total of discharge of 268 tons of mercury-contaminated toxic waste were discharged into the creek between 1943 and 1974. Wolf had demolished the former Ventron plant in 1974, but the residual pollution remained in the creek, rendering the site still unsustainable.

EPA Superfund designations

The federal "

" law was enacted by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in 1980 to provide for cleanup of hazardous waste sites, and was based on New Jersey’s 1977 spill cleanup law. EPA applied the new cleanup law in 1983 and 1984 as it designated the Ventron/Velsicol site and two nearby sites—the Scientific Chemical site in Carlstadt, and the

Universal Oil Products Honeywell UOP, formerly known as UOP LLC or Universal Oil Products, is an American multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries. ...

site in East Rutherford—as Superfund sites. EPA and NJDEP began detailed assessment and initial cleanup activities on these sites in the 1980s. Contaminated soil was removed and replaced at several properties in 1990, as an interim measure. but completion is projected to continue during the first quarter 21st century. In addition to mercury, all three sites are laden with

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

. Only the Scientific Chemical site is listed as "under control" as of 2018. In October 2018 EPA announced a 5.5-year plan to remove and/or cap the toxic waste in the creek and watershed resulting from the Ventron/Velsicol site discharges.

Wildlife

Through the early 1900s, the predominant plants in the watershed were freshwater species such as

cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

s and

Atlantic white cedar ''Chamaecyparis thyoides'' (Atlantic white cedar, Atlantic white cypress, southern white cedar, whitecedar, or false-cypress), a species of ''Cupressaceae'', is native to the Atlantic coast of North America and is found from southern Maine to Geo ...

. The plant composition began to change after construction of the Oradell Dam on the Hackensack River in 1921. The dam was built at the

head of tide Head of tide, tidal limit or tidehead is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, b ...

, which increased the salinity of Berry's Creek, and since then the marsh vegetation in has been composed predominately of

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London ...

''(Phragmites australis)''. Berry's Creek harbors the last remaining

northern harrier The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA. The northern harrier migrates to more southerly areas ...

nest site in the Meadowlands. It is heavily used by wintering raptors. "The marshes of the Meadowlands provide many important wetland functions. More than 265 species of birds use the area, and the Meadowlands is recognized as a major link along the Atlantic Flyway for migratory species (especially shorebirds) and an important overwintering area for a variety of waterfowl... Waterway-associated birds occurring in the region include a variety of shorebirds, wading birds, waterfowl, and gulls." Significant fish species in the Meadowlands region are

mummichog The mummichog (''Fundulus heteroclitus'') is a small killifish found along the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada. Also known as Atlantic killifish, mummies, gudgeons, and mud minnows, these fish inhabit brackish and coastal waters in ...

''(Fundulus heteroclitus),''

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The name "White perc ...

''(Morone americana),''

Atlantic silverside The Atlantic silverside (''Menidia menidia''), also known as spearing in the northeastern United States, is a small species of fish from the West Atlantic, ranging from the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada to northeastern Florida in the USA. It is ...

''(Menidia menidia)'',

gizzard shad ''Dorosoma'' is a genus that contains five species of shads, within the herring family Clupeidae. The five species are native to the North and/or Central America, and are known from both fresh water and the waters of estuaries and bays. The Ame ...

''(Dorosoma cepedianum),'' striped killifish ''(Fundulus majalis),'' and

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...

''(Morone saxatilis).'' In November 1991 a water sample survey found high levels of the metallic element

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

in the hepatopancreas of the local blue crab (''

Callinectes sapidus ''Callinectes sapidus'' (from the Ancient Greek ,"beautiful" + , "swimmer", and Latin , "savory"), the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic O ...

'') population. NJDEP has issued advisories warning against harvesting or eating blue crabs from Berry's Creek, the entire Hackensack River watershed and

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 Jersey, t ...

References

External links

Berry's Creek Study Area: Background, Photos, Document Library
- EPA
Map highlighting Berrys Creek

Map of Berrys Creek

EPA fact sheet on Berrys Creek remediation
2011)

{{Coord, 40.7867, -74.0849, type:river_region:US-NJ, format=dms, display=title Carlstadt, New Jersey East Rutherford, New Jersey Hackensack River Lyndhurst, New Jersey Moonachie, New Jersey New Jersey Meadowlands District Rivers of Bergen County, New Jersey Rutherford, New Jersey Superfund sites in New Jersey Wood-Ridge, New Jersey