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in March of 2016, environmental officials had finally decided to remove over a century worth of toxins and waste from the lower 8 miles of the Passaic River. This part of the river was known as the most dangerously tainted portion of the river. 

one of the main issues that presents itself when hurricanes do occur is that the drainage systems become very clogged and end up flooding the streets. In response to this, on July 1, "new state permits went into effect for the 25 municipalities, sewage treatment plants, and sewage authorities that manage systems with CSOs. In addition to the steps these entities already have taken to control overflows, they now must develop comprehensive Long-Term Control Plans." (paragraph 5) If everything is able to function properly, we will be able to unclog the drainage systems allowing for the roads to not flood and people to move around if need be. 

The main point of the article is that a big name organization (The EPA) is taking steps to help the residents of Newark and the Ironbound Community monitor air pollution. Not only is the EPA donating $150,000 worth of equipment, but they are also training volunteers to monitor and mantain the machines so the EPA and the Ironbound Community can gather the information they need. The machines can also be moved around so multiple locations can be sampled and tested. 

there are some pollutants that affect the community and in other places:

• particle pollution and ground-level ozone pollution
• sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
• lead
• carbon monoxide

nothing was really done to prevent anything from happening. The river was known for its dirty and polluted waters which occured due to years of industrial toxin buildup in the waters. 

one of the main vulnerabilities is that there is a large amounts of sewage and trash polluting the water and it gets sucked into the overflow system that are used to prevent flooding. this further pollutes the surrounding are and further poisons the environment.