Environmental Initiatives
As a result of hundreds of years of urban development in and around the New York and New Jersey Harbor region, the environment has suffered from the extensive loss and degradation of natural habitats that has reduced the diversity, abundance, function and integrity of the many ecosystems remaining within the area.
A primary mission of the Army Corps of Engineers is to improve the environmental health in impacted areas of the nation by reestablishing the attributes of a natural, functioning, and self-regulating ecosystem. The District, along with its partners and stakeholders are committed to restoring the New York and New Jersey Harbor Estuary.
The Corps approaches its restoration projects by combining engineering principles with environmental science to identify actions needed to comprehensively restore the New York and New Jersey Harbor Estuary. The goal of the Corps’ environmental mission is to create a world-class harbor estuary.
Designated an “Estuary of National Significance” by the EPA, there are several ongoing feasibility studies under the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Authority. The goals of these studies are to improve sediment quality, water quality and enhance habitat within the Harbor Estuary. We are working on projects that are protecting the region's harbors and estuaries, preserving and restoring wetlands and rivers, protecting public drinking water, creating habitats for endangered wildlife, and cleaning up hazardous material from residential communities. Examples of Corps environmental initiatives:
- Habitat restoration, creation and enhancement
- Brownfield remediation
- Removal of driftwood, flotsam and jetsam from the waters
- Water quality improvement
- Superfund site & Hazardous waste clean-up
For questions regarding the Port of New York and New Jersey Harbor web page, please contact the Public Affairs Office.
