The
Raritan River
Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...
Project was founded by the
Edison Wetlands Association
The Edison Wetlands Association was founded by noted activist Robert Spiegel in 1989 as a nonprofit environmental organization devoted to the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and the preservation of open space in densely populated central New Je ...
(EWA) in 1995 to protect human health, quality of life, and the environment against threats, including pollution, overdevelopment, and lack of public access to waterways.
The Raritan River is the longest river solely in
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 ...
, flowing through 49 municipalities, including an industrial corridor known as Central New Jersey’s “Chemical Belt”. The Raritan also flows through many of New Jersey’s 18,500 contaminated industrial sites, making it the twelfth most polluted river in U.S.
Over 200 contaminated sites are adjacent or drain into the lower Raritan River, including abandoned industrial sites,
Superfund sites, old landfills, dredge dumping areas and old army arsenals. Residents continue to be exposed to toxic waste through recreational use of the river and eating contaminated fish despite warning that it may be hazardous to their health. The mission of the Raritan River Project is to clean up and protect the lower reaches of the Raritan River by identifying and reducing sources of contamination. The goal of the EWA is to stop the ongoing pollution, clean up the existing contamination and restore the watershed.
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.wnet.org/2012/11/29/1459/
Raritan River