By Megha Poddar ’15, Staff Writer

At Newark Academy, the student body prides itself on keeping environmental impact to a minimum. As a matter of fact, here at the Academy, the Outdoors Club and the Green Committee constantly keep the community informed on possible ways for students and faculty to help the environment and get involved with the outdoors. As of this year, we can even boast our new, environmentally friendly school wing, which is LEED certified.

However, although Newark Academy certainly is environmentally aware, a serious problem has arisen in our local community: the pollution in the Passaic River.  Ever since the Diamond Alkali Company produced Agent Orange, a defoliant, during the Vietnam War, the river has been contaminated with hazardous substances such as dioxin, PCBs, mercury, DDT, pesticides, and heavy metals. Centered at Newark Bay, the Diamond Alkali’s Factory caused a spread of these substances all over the surrounding area.

Luckily, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has recognized the harmful river on its National Priorities List in 1984. Since then, a widespread cleanup of the river has continued to reduce the amount of toxins. Even though the river is so close to Newark Academy, many students are unaware of its serious hazard to the environment. Rachel Neiman, a member of the Green Committee, explains how she “had no idea about how serious the issue actually was.” She also added that, “It would be a great opportunity for our community and the Green Committee to organize a cleanup.” Though Newark Academy has hosted several cleanups in the past, for the last two years no efforts on the river have been made.

In addition, Lila Rimalovski, an executive member of the Outdoors Club, stressed “it is really important that people are aware of our local environment and help in any way to keep it as clean as possible.” Both the Outdoors Club and the Green Committee plan to keep the Passaic River in mind as they plan their activities for the upcoming year. Also, Ms. Snow, an advisor to the Green Committee, noted that, “the more people that we can get out there, the more people will realize the importance of this issue.” She reasoned that as a community, Newark Academy must pay attention to its impact on the natural world.