Jersey City Bayfront Redevelopment Backup: Will the once contaminated site soon have its completed makeover?

Photo: Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners

Hudson County is the sixth-most densely populated county in the country and has one of the highest percentages of public transportation use. Part of the last phase of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Route 440 Extension Project, which is slowly on its way to the start of construction, is the Bayfront Lightrail station, also part of the Bayfront Redevelopment project in Jersey City. 

The Bayfront Redevelopment is expected to be the largest mixed-income community in the region with the most affordable housing of any private, mixed-income community of its size in the nation, according to a statement made by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. 

The site of the development, which has been a dirt pile for some time now, is located on the West Side of Jersey City along the Lower Hackensack River. 

“We have worked to ensure the 100-acre site, located along the Hackensack River waterfront, will prioritize affordable housing, create jobs for Jersey City during and after construction, and transform what was once a contaminated site into a model for sustainable development,” said Fulop. 

The river, which is associated with the wetlands, and the area that surrounds it has been a hotspot for industrial activity for over 200 years, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Pollutants, like sewerage, have been dumped into the water for decades, being one of the factors for its contamination, which are above the state’s sediment screening benchmarks, according to the EPA. 

The site’s previous owner, Honeywell, was ordered by a federal district judge in Newark in 2003 to conduct an environmental remediation of the sediment to remove polluted land and have it replaced with clean soil, before the property was turned over to the city of Jersey City in 2018.

The company was also required to remove contaminants from the river near the dump and according to the EPA, the river is still not in the greatest conditions.

From the Oradell Dam to the area around the river at Newark Bay, there is an overwelming amount of inorganic and organic compounds in the surface and subsurface sediment of the river. 

In March of this year, a $1.6 million grant was received for the project which “underscores the federal government’s commitment to supporting local initiatives aimed at urban renewal and economic development,” according to a press release. 

Of the 210 residential units, 35 percent of them are to be set aside for low-income and moderate-income residents. “The premier residential and retail waterfront area is designed to best serve Jersey City residents by prioritizing affordability, jobs for residents, quality public spaces, and attracting interest and investment to the south and west areas of Jersey City,” according to the press release. 

The initial assessment of the site was completed in June 2015 and the combined remedial investigation and feasibility study started July 2022, according to the EPA. 

The performance measures statuses of the site point out that the river is not in the best conditions. 

The EPA reported that the site is not ready for anticipated use, but “a site listed as no may still have redevelopment occurring on portions of the site and additional redevelopment may be possible.” 

Human exposure is not under control as of May 2023 because of on-going ingestion of fish and shellfish that are caught from the river that could contain polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), dioxin and mercury.

There are signs posted around the area warning individuals about the conditions of the river to avoid fishing.

Once the extent of contamination is determined, a remedy to address the cases of human exposure will be chosen. 

The investigation is expected to be completed between September and November of 2026. Until then, the site has been elevated and supercharged to prepare for vertical construction in the upcoming months, according to Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, Press Secretary of the Office of Mayor Fulop.