Who we are
Founded in 1969, Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) is based in and named after the Ironbound community of Newark, New Jersey. ICC’s mission is to engage and empower individuals, families, and groups in realizing their aspirations and, together, work to create a just, vibrant, and sustainable community. ICC upholds and builds upon the principles of “Justice and Equality for All.” We strive to practice and build equity, work towards a just JTransition, and organize community on the basis of the Jemez Principles. We envision a safe, healthy, just, and nurturing Ironbound community; a welcoming and fully inclusive community that supports equal and accessible opportunity for a better life. For us, revitalization means uplifting both people and place. We are leadingthe transformation of Ironbound into a neighborhood where anyone might choose to live, and current residents can remain in their homes and community without fear of being displaced.
The Fight to Close the Essex County Incinerator
Ironbound has been fighting incineration and all other major sources of pollution in our community and state for over forty years. In addition to New Jersey’s largest garbage incinerator, Ironbound is home to one of the country’s most contaminated land sites — a former Agent Orange dioxin factory — and has both active and abandoned industrial facilities, nearby flight paths, and active truck routes. In the 1980s, members of ICC stopped 13 proposed incinerators from being built, but lost their 1990 campaign against an incinerator in their backyard, the Essex County Resource Recovery incinerator. Owned and operated by behemoth incinerator company Covanta, it is the largest garbage incinerator in the state , burning about 2.8 tons of waste per day and emitting more lead into the air than any other U.S. incinerator.
ICC is working to pass an environmental justice bill for New Jersey designed to prevent the siting of new industrial facilities or the expansion of current facilities in communities already overburdened with pollution. We are also working to develop a zero waste action plan so that our community can advance alternatives to burning waste.
The Basics
Incinerator: Wheelabrator Baltimore
Incinerator: Essex County Resource Recovery Facility
Location: 187 Raymond Boulevard, Newark, NJ
Pounds of pollutants (annually): total HAPs 38,076.96 (2017)
Mercury: 29.06 (2017)
PM2.5: 54,520.90 (2017)
Lead: 247.16 (2017)
NOx: 2,202,482.00 (2017)
Community: 71% minority, 37% below poverty line
Critical Date: (Permit expiration date): not available
