It's been two years since the federal taxes that bring money to the Superfund program were reinstated, and the results are already being seen at pollution clean-ups around the nation. A recent report published by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America found that that billions of dollars are being collected, allowing previously stalled work at dozens of Superfund sites to finally move forward -- including 10 in New Jersey.

New Jersey's Meadowlands were swamped in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy washed ashore, causing widespread flooding in towns like Little Ferry along the Hackensack River. The next generation of flood protections for the area have been planned in the years since: Now, more than $46 million is being committed to bring those plans to life.

In Edgewater, on the banks of the Hudson River and in the shadow of the glitzy Manhattan skyline, the Quanta Resources Superfund site is finally a big step closer to being cleaned up. Last month, the EPA unveiled a new plan to deal with pollution that has seeped into the Hudson River from the tainted land. It’s a major step for a site that has already spent decades on the Superfund list, at the heart of an urban, redeveloping community. To learn more about the Quanta Resources site, check out Episode 7 of Hazard NJ “A Headache on the Hudson.”

Happy Earth Day from Hazard NJ and NJ Spotlight News! Thank you all for taking the time to listen to our podcast, and learn about the ways in which climate change is impacting some of New Jersey’s most toxic places. We’re happy to say that we are already working on our next season, which will take a hard look at a new pollution threat in the Garden State and beyond: PFAS, also called “forever chemicals.” We’ll have more on that soon, but for now, here’s a look back at the second half of Season 1.

Small steps forward this week on the clean-up of the lower Passaic River, where past dumping of Agent Orange and other chemicals created a toxic mess that is now one of the nation’s largest Superfund sites. But that progress comes as one of the main companies on the hook for the work is pushing hard against a deal the EPA has made with other polluters.

The decades-long drip, drip, drip of toxic chemicals from the Price Landfill in South Jersey reached crisis levels in the early '80s when the hazardous plume threatened to taint the water supply for the Atlantic City area. The site earned an emergency response and the reputation as the most polluted Superfund site in America. Now, more than 40 years later, Price Landfill has entered a new chapter… And this time, it's helping not harming.

Efforts to clean up the lower stretch of the Passaic River are getting a $150 million boost, thanks to a new settlement between the federal government and 85 likely polluters. This stretch of the river, running through Newark and nearby towns, is coated with a lining of toxic mud, tainted by decades and decades of chemical dumping. Getting it cleaned up will be difficult – and expensive. At roughly $1.8 billion, the Passaic River is estimated to be the costliest project currently facing the EPA’s Superfund program. That makes the settlement a small, but welcome, step forward.

We’re bringing you a special episode from the podcast “Damages”, which examines court cases that matter in the fight against climate change. In this episode, “Damages” host Amy Westervelt takes listeners to Minnesota, where the rights of threatened wild rice (or manoomin in the Ojibwe language) are considered in the face of efforts to build the Line 3 pipeline across the state. Check it out, and be sure to follow “Damages” wherever you get your podcasts.