New Jersey Meadowlands
This article is about the wetlands. For the sports complex, see Meadowlands Sports Complex. For the Russian song, see Meadowland |
A marsh in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. |
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 northeast
New Jersey in the
United States. The Meadowlands are known for being the site of large landfills and decades of environmental abuse. The Meadowlands stretch mainly along the terminus of the
Hackensack and
Passaic Rivers as they flow into
Newark Bay; tributaries of the Hackensack include
Berrys Creek and
Overpeck Creek. The Meadowlands consist of roughly 8,400 acres (34 km²) of open, undeveloped space in addition to the vast developed areas that previously were part of the natural wetlands.
Before European settlement, the area consisted of several diverse eco-systems based on fresh-, brack-, and saltwater environments. Large areas were covered by forests. Considered by residents of the area through the centuries as "wastelands," the Meadowlands were systematically subject to various kinds of human intervention. These can be categorized into four major categories
[The Meadowlands Before the Commission: Three Centuries of Human Use and Alteration of the Newark and Hackensack Meadows, accessed July 19, 2006]:
* Extraction of natural resources - such resources have included fish, game, etc. In addition, farmers harvested salt hay for feed. Over time, the resources were either depleted or contaminated by pollution.
* Alteration of water flow - in addition to gradually rising tides, dams, channels, dredging, and ditches have contributed to a reduction in the freshwater habitat in the Meadowlands.
* Reclamation, land making, and development - a significant portion of
Newark and
Elizabeth is in fact built on land that has either been reclaimed, added, or drained from wetlands. In addition to landfill from garbage, landmass generated from dredging was also used to create new land.
* Pollution by sewage, refuse, and hazardous waste - various types of waste have been dumped legally and illegally in the Meadowlands. During
World War II, refuse generated by the military during the war was dumped in the Meadowlands, including rubble from
London created by the
Battle of Britain used as
ballast in returning ships. After the war, the Meadowlands continued to be used for civilian waste disposal, as the marshes were seen simply as wastelands that were not good for anything else. The opening of the
New Jersey Turnpike in January 1952 only amplified the continuing environmental decline of the Meadowlands, as both spurs of the Turnpike travel through the region from the
Passaic River to just past
North Bergen.
The state of the Meadowlands arguably hit an all-time low with the creation of the
Meadowlands Sports Complex in
East Rutherford, finished by September 1976 and originally containing the
Meadowlands Racetrack and
Giants Stadium. The construction of the Meadowlands Sports Complex inevitably increased vehicle traffic in the area as well as all forms of pollution associated with motor vehicles.
Inevitably, the location of the New Jersey Meadowlands to the greater
New York City metropolitan area and its outgrowth into New Jersey make conservation of the vast wetland a difficult proposition. In spite of this, the
New Jersey Legislature, led by
Richard W. DeKorte, created the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission (since renamed
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission) in 1968 to attempt to address both economic and environmental issues concerning the wetland region. Even under grave environmental circumstances, the Meadowlands contain many species of
fish,
crustaceans, and
mollusks and is considered to be an important
bird habitat. Congressman
Steve Rothman has secured millions of dollars from
Congress to protect and preserve the Meadowlands and establish
organizations to research the unique animals and their interaction with the ecosystem.
*
Hackensack Riverkeeper*
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission website*
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission Master Plan*
Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce*
Meadowlands Liberty Convention & Visitors Bureau*
Meadowlands Environment Center*
New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority website*
Stay in the Meadowlands*
The Meadowlands: Wilderness Adventures on the Edge of a City (book description)*
Wild New Jersey - "The Fishes Swim Through it? Once Again"
