Category: Waterbodies & Other Wetlands 
Location: Adjacent to the NJSEA Sports Complex, north of Oritani Marsh along Berry’s Creek in East Rutherford, Bergen County.
Current Land Use: Preserved tidal marsh
Current Ownership: NJSEA
Site Description: The approximately 120 acre Walden Marsh is highly channelized due to mosquito ditches, and receives tidal influence from Berry’s Creek. The site is predominately a common reed (Phragmites australis) monoculture, with highly contaminated soils. It has been estimated that 20 tons of mercury exist in a stratified layer in the Walden Marsh soils.
Existing Site-Specific Data Inventory
A. Survey, Maps, and GIS
HMD regional data exists inclusive of this site.
B. Real Estate/Ownership
N/A
C. Site History & Land Use
Land use information was included in three EIS’s conducted for the NJSEA Sports Complex site in 1972, 1978, and 1980.
D. Biological Studies – Fauna
General biological sampling within the surrounding area was completed for the Meadowlands in 1977. Wildlife studies and an inventory for the surrounding area were included in two EIS’s conducted for the NJSEA Sports Complex site in 1972 and 1978.
E. Biological Studies – General Environmental
Various EIS’s and a technical document conducted for the NJSEA Sports Complex site in 1972, 1978, 1980, and 1985 included a vegetation inventory and assessments of potential environmental impacts within the surrounding area. Wetland assessments conducted in 2003.
F. Geotechnical
Soils/foundation investigation for NJSEA Sports Complex site was conducted in 1978. Test borings and geology studies were conducted for two EIS’s for NJSEA Sports Complex site in 1972 and 1978.
G. Hydraulics and Hydrology
Stormwater study performed for the NJSEA Sports Complex site/Berry’s Creek in 1990. General hydrology studies were included in an EIS and a technical document conducted for the NJSEA Sports Complex site in 1980 and 1985.
H. Water and Sediments
Various EIS’s and a technical document conducted for the NJSEA Sports Complex site in 1972, 1978, 1980, and 1985 included a water quality studies. Storm water study performed in 1990.
I. Historical/Cultural Resources
No data obtained.
J. Restoration/Remediation Design Plans
A plan to create a mercury budget was established in 1975. Mitigation plan for expansion of parking facilities at the Meadowlands Arena was proposed in 1985.
Site Reports
Site #40 – NJSEA Sports Complex-Walden Marsh
Category: Waterbodies & Other Wetlands
Location: Adjacent to the NJSEA Sports Complex, north of Oritani Marsh along Berry’s Creek in East Rutherford, Bergen County.
Current Land Use: Preserved tidal marsh
Current Ownership: NJSEA
Site Description: The approximately 120 acre Walden Marsh is highly channelized due to mosquito ditches, and receives tidal influence from Berry’s Creek. The site is predominately a common reed (Phragmites australis) monoculture, with highly contaminated soils. It has been estimated that 20 tons of mercury exist in a stratified layer in the Walden Marsh soils.
Existing Site Specific Data Inventory
* – Report repeated under multiple data categories and/or sites.
A. Survey, Maps, and GIS
Relevant survey, mapping, and GIS data for the Meadowlands can be found in the Meadowlands-wide site report under data category A.
B. Real Estate/Ownership
NJSEA Sports Complex-Walden Marsh is owned by NJSEA.
C. Site History & Land Use
1. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Draft Assessment of the Potential Environmental Impact of the Construction and Operation of a New Jersey Sports and Exposition Complex at a Site in Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1972. [1a] Draft EIS that evaluated both the onsite and offsite environmental impacts of the construction and operation of the NJSEA’s Sports Complex (Walden Marsh was part of the site). Examined land form/geology, vegetation, wildlife, and water quality at the proposed site. Assessed probable noise, traffic, and air quality impacts. Also includes environmental inventory for the HMD (physiography/geology and vegetation) and the project site (vegetation, wildlife, geology, and water quality).
2. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Full Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Meadowlands Arena at the New Jersey Sports Complex, Borough of East Rutherford, County of Bergen. 1978. [1a] Details the potential environmental effects of the proposed Hackensack Meadowlands Arena and New Jersey Sports Complex. Includes traffic, test boring, wildlife, vehicular emissions, air quality, and water quality data for the surrounding area.
3. *NJSEA. Flood Management Plan Hackensack Meadowlands District – Volume 2: Summary of Permit to Construct an Embankment and Other Facilities on Berry’s Creek, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1980. [1a] Draft EIS examining the impacts of the proposed embankment and other facilities related to the NJSEA Sports Complex construction along Berry’s Creek, which includes a football stadium, a horse racing facility, and an environment center. Discusses adverse environmental impacts due to the elimination of the Walden Marsh.
D. Biological Studies – Fauna
4. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Collections of Aquatic Organisms from the Hackensack Meadowlands, Bergen and Hudson Counties, NJ. 1977. [1a]Study undertaken to obtain a large number of biological samples from the waters and wetlands at eight stations in the central meadowlands. Samples were collected during three days in October 1976. Specimens were identified, labeled, packaged, and frozen. The concentrations of mercury in the samples collected were to be determined at a later date under a separate contract.
1. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Draft Assessment of the Potential Environmental Impact of the Construction and Operation of a New Jersey Sports and Exposition Complex at a Site in Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1972. [1a] Draft EIS that evaluated both the onsite and offsite environmental impacts of the construction and operation of the NJSEA’s Sports Complex (Walden Marsh was part of the site). Examined land form/geology, vegetation, wildlife, and water quality at the proposed site. Assessed probable noise, traffic, and air quality impacts. Also includes environmental inventory for the HMD (physiography/geology and vegetation) and the project site (vegetation, wildlife, geology, and water quality).
2. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Full Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Meadowlands Arena at the New Jersey Sports Complex, Borough of East Rutherford, County of Bergen. 1978. [1a] Details the potential environmental effects of the proposed Hackensack Meadowlands Arena and New Jersey Sports Complex. Includes traffic, test boring, wildlife, vehicular emissions, air quality, and water quality data for the surrounding area.
E. Biological Studies – General Environmental
3. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Draft Assessment of the Potential Environmental Impact of the Construction and Operation of a New Jersey Sports and Exposition Complex at a Site in Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1972. [1a] Draft EIS that evaluated both the onsite and offsite environmental impacts of the construction and operation of the NJSEA’s Sports Complex (Walden Marsh was part of the site). Examined land form/geology, vegetation, wildlife, and water quality at the proposed site. Assessed probable noise, traffic, and air quality impacts. Also includes environmental inventory for the HMD (physiography/geology and vegetation) and the project site (vegetation, wildlife, geology, and water quality).
4. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Full Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Meadowlands Arena at the New Jersey Sports Complex, Borough of East Rutherford, County of Bergen. 1978. [1a] Details the potential environmental effects of the proposed Hackensack Meadowlands Arena and New Jersey Sports Complex. Includes traffic, test boring, wildlife, vehicular emissions, air quality, and water quality data for the surrounding area.
5. *The Louis Berger Group, Inc. Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Functional Assessment Model and Guidebook for Tidal Fringe Wetlands in the New Jersey Meadowlands. 2003. [1a](http://merilibrary.meadowlands.state.nj.us/dbtw-wpd/FullText/HGM_guidebook_RVSD.pdf) A hydrogeomorphic functional assessment model and guidebook for tidal fringe wetlands in the Hackensack Meadowlands was completed. The HGM model can be used as a tool to help determine wetland functions and values and to approximate compensatory wetland mitigation. Map-based and on-site field data (including amount of aquatic edge, channel density, vegetative cover, habitat, soil texture, and tidal inundation) were collected from the reference wetlands and used to refine data collection forms, calibrate model variables, and improve the conceptual HGM functional models. Reference sites included Skeetkill Creek Marsh, Meadowlark Marsh, Lyndhurst Riverside Marsh, MRI, Western Brackish Marsh, Mill Creek Marsh, Eastern Brackish Marsh, Mori Tract, Walden Marsh, Oritani Marsh, Harrier Meadow, Anderson Creek Marsh, Kearny Brackish Marsh, and Riverbend Wetlands Preserve.
6. *NJSEA. Flood Management Plan Hackensack Meadowlands District – Volume 2: Summary of Permit to Construct an Embankment and Other Facilities on Berry’s Creek, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1980. [1a] Draft EIS examining the impacts of the proposed embankment and other facilities related to the NJSEA Sports Complex construction along Berry’s Creek, which includes a football stadium, a horse racing facility, and an environment center. Discusses adverse environmental impacts due to the elimination of the Walden Marsh.
7. *NJSEA. Technical Support Document for a Permit Application: Brendan Byrne Arena Parking Facility Expansion. 1985. [1a] Examined the potential impacts of the proposed project, which consisted of the expansion of parking facilities at the Meadowlands Arena by filling in 11.5 acres of wetland. It included a mitigation plan for the proposed project and outlined all the required permits.
F. Geotechnical
8. Converse Ward Davis Dixon, Inc. Report of Soils And Foundation Investigation, Proposed Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey. 1978. [1a] Determined and evaluated subsurface conditions, and provided recommendations for the design and construction of foundations, floors, and pavements as influenced by the subsurface conditions. Available geologic data was reviewed, an exploration program prepared and executed, and conclusions and recommendations were included.
9. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Full Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Meadowlands Arena at the New Jersey Sports Complex, Borough of East Rutherford, County of Bergen. 1978. [1a] Details the potential environmental effects of the proposed Hackensack Meadowlands Arena and New Jersey Sports Complex. Includes traffic, test boring, wildlife, vehicular emissions, air quality, and water quality data for the surrounding area.
G. Hydraulics and Hydrology
10. *Bertolotti, Benjamin J. Chemical Oxygen Demand Interference in the Stormwater Collection System of the Meadowlands Sport Complex. 1990. [1] Analyzed Berry’s Creek for exceedence of permit levels of organic and inorganic pollutants at the discharge point of the stormwater collection system for the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The system consists of four retention basins that trap runoff from the facility’s parking lots. Pumping action moves the water through the system, eventually discharging into Berry’s Creek.
11. *NJSEA. Flood Management Plan Hackensack Meadowlands District – Volume 2: Summary of Permit to Construct an Embankment and Other Facilities on Berry’s Creek, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1980. [1a] Draft EIS examining the impacts of the proposed embankment and other facilities related to the NJSEA Sports Complex construction along Berry’s Creek, which includes a football stadium, a horse racing facility, and an environment center. Discusses adverse environmental impacts due to the elimination of the Walden Marsh.
12. *NJSEA. Technical Support Document for a Permit Application: Brendan Byrne Arena Parking Facility Expansion. 1985. [1a] Examined the potential impacts of the proposed project, which consisted of the expansion of parking facilities at the Meadowlands Arena by filling in 11.5 acres of wetland. It included a mitigation plan for the proposed project and outlined all the required permits.
H. Water and Sediments
13. *Bertolotti, Benjamin J. Chemical Oxygen Demand Interference in the Stormwater Collection System of the Meadowlands Sport Complex. 1990. [1] Analyzed Berry’s Creek for exceedence of permit levels of organic and inorganic pollutants at the discharge point of the stormwater collection system for the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The system consists of four retention basins that trap runoff from the facility’s parking lots. Pumping action moves the water through the system, eventually discharging into Berry’s Creek.
14. *Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. Full Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Meadowlands Arena at the New Jersey Sports Complex, Borough of East Rutherford, County of Bergen. 1978. [1a] Details the potential environmental effects of the proposed Hackensack Meadowlands Arena and New Jersey Sports Complex. Includes traffic, test boring, wildlife, vehicular emissions, air quality, and water quality data for the surrounding area.
15. *NJSEA. Flood Management Plan Hackensack Meadowlands District – Volume 2: Summary of Permit to Construct an Embankment and Other Facilities on Berry’s Creek, Bergen County, New Jersey. 1980. [1a] Draft EIS examining the impacts of the proposed embankment and other facilities related to the NJSEA Sports Complex construction along Berry’s Creek, which includes a football stadium, a horse racing facility, and an environment center. Discusses adverse environmental impacts due to the elimination of the Walden Marsh.
16. *NJSEA. Technical Support Document for a Permit Application: Brendan Byrne Arena Parking Facility Expansion. 1985. [1a] Examined the potential impacts of the proposed project, which consisted of the expansion of parking facilities at the Meadowlands Arena by filling in 11.5 acres of wetland. It included a mitigation plan for the proposed project and outlined all the required permits.
I. Historical/Cultural Resources
No data obtained.
J. Restoration/Remediation Design Plans
17. Jack McCormick & Associates, Inc. A Mercury Budget for Berrys Creek Tidal Marsh, Proposed Plan and Budget. 1975. [1a] Describes a plan to create a mercury budget in a tidal marsh owned by the NJSEA.
18. *NJSEA. Technical Support Document for a Permit Application: Brendan Byrne Arena Parking Facility Expansion. 1985. [1a] Examined the potential impacts of the proposed project, which consisted of the expansion of parking facilities at the Meadowlands Arena by filling in 11.5 acres of wetland. It included a mitigation plan for the proposed project and outlined all the required permits.
K. Bibliographic Updates
Site #40: NJSEA Sports Complex
Site #40: Walden Marsh