The partner agencies are refining an existing NY/NJ Harbor-wide model to focus on the Lower Passaic River watershed. The existing Harbor-wide model was developed by the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program for use in its Contaminant Assessment and Reduction Project. The Lower Passaic River Restoration Project will use its refined model to predict how contaminants are moving within the Lower Passaic River and Newark Bay.

Peer Review [September 2013]: The sediment transport, organic carbon and contaminant fate and transport models used in the Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) went through a peer review to ensure that they are scientifically and technically adequate tools for EPA to use to evaluate remedial alternatives for the lower eight miles of the Lower Passaic River. The final report on the peer review (including the charge to peer reviewers, their comments and EPA’s response to comments) is available in the Digital Library, under Modeling.

System Understanding of Sediment Transport [May 2011]:  This report provides a description of the sediment transport processes governing the fate and transport of contaminants in the Lower Passaic River.  Since the contaminants of concern in the river tend to be bound tightly to sediments, understanding sediment transport is key to understanding how the contaminants behave in the river.  This report will be used to guide the development of a sediment transport model that will be one of the tools used to evaluate cleanup options for the river.  The report is available in the Digital Library, in the Modeling folder.

Final Hydrodynamic Modeling Report [January 2008]:   This report presents the 3-dimensional model created to describe the circulation of water throughout the Lower Passaic River and Newark Bay Study Areas. The hydrodynamics of the system are predominantly controlled by 3 mechanisms: freshwater flows, tides and winds. This model was developed with the goal of eventually being able to predict the movement and concentrations of contaminants of concern within the 2 study areas under different future scenarios such as dredging, capping, or monitored natural attenuation. This report includes a calibration and validation of the hydrodynamic model. These are procedures where the developed model is run and the results are compared to data observed in the field to determine whether any refinements need to be made to the model. In general, the model results were in agreement with the observed data.
Appendices can be accessed by clicking here.

Modeling Plan: [September 2006]   This plan gives an overview of how the existing NY/NJ Harbor-wide model will be refined to focus on the Lower Passaic River watershed.

Draft Hydrodynamic Modeling Report [April 2006]: This report presents the development, calibration and validation of the first component in the modeling effort. The appendices to the Draft Hydrodynamic Modeling Report can be accessed via the following links: Part 1 and Part 2.