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The Newark Experience

Superfund Site: Diamond Alkali Company

Why There is Agent Orange in Newark
RT America news video.
Dioxin Uncovered: A Transnational History of Agent Orange
Susan Cohen. (M.A. Thesis) Rutgers University Newark, 2021.
"During the 1960s and 1970s, the chemical, Agent Orange, was produced in Newark and then used as a defoliant in Vietnam. However, as Agent Orange is made up of Dioxin, it is toxic to both people and the environment. Within years of the production and use of Agent Orange, people in both Newark and Vietnam suffered the ill effects of the toxin. I argue that exploring the production, use, and ways that both the people of Newark and the people of Vietnam worked to hold the chemical companies accountable for the production of Agent Orange showcases a significant transnational history as the people of Newark and the people of Vietnam were influenced by one another."
Superfund Site: Diamond Alkali Co., Newark, NJ
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Diamond Alkali Company manufactured agricultural chemicals, including the herbicides used in the defoliant known as “Agent Orange” on Lister Avenue in Newark. A by-product of these manufacturing processes was 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin), an extremely toxic chemical.
1977 Letter from the Medical Director of the Diamond Shamrock Corporation to the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
Information on Diamond Shamrock's experience with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
Assessment of Potential Sources of Release of Dioxin to the Environment From Reported Manufacturing Operations and Activities at the Diamond Shamrock Facility, 80 Lister Avenue, Newark, New Jersey
Prepared for Defense Steering Committee (Diamond Shamrock v. Aetna, et al), May 29, 1987.
“Reconstruction of Historical 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin Discharges from a Former Pesticide Manufacturing Plant to the Lower Passaic River"
Robert Parette, David J. Velinsky, and Wendy N. Pearson. Chemosphere (Oxford) 212, December 2018, pp. 1125-1132. Rutgers-restricted Access
Health Consultation: Diamond Alkali Company
Prepared by the New Jersey Department of Health, Environmental Health Service, August 21, 1996.
Fourth Five-Year Review Report for the Diamond Alkali Site 2016
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