Passaic River, the Hudson River, the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek all share the dubious distinction of hosting Superfund sites, where industry polluted the river. MetroFocus has a look at cleanup strategies.
John Farley of MetroFocus writes that the job of cleaning up Superfund sites "is an economically, politically and physically arduous one." Farley looks at these four sites, how they originally came to be polluted, what they are polluted with, and recent efforts to begin cleanup.
"Throughout the 20th century, the banks of the Passaic were lined with mills and factories, causing severe pollution. The worst offender was the Diamond Shamrock Chemical Plant in Newark, which produced the chemical weapon Agent Orange, according to The Star-Ledger. The sediment at the bottom of the river's mouth, near Newark, is lined with dioxin, a carcinogenic component of Agent Orange. Diamond Shamrock went out of business before the area was declared a Superfund site, but this past summer, after years of legal wrangling, a federal judge forced the companies that now own the site, Tierra Solutions Inc. and Occidental Chemical Corporation, to clean up the river."
FULL STORY: Four Toxic Rivers: A Super Sad True Superfund Story

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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