Union County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 575,345, making it the seventh-most populous of New Jersey's 21 counties. Its county seat is Elizabeth.
The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary, also known as the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, is in the northeastern states of New Jersey and New York on the East Coast of the United States. The system of waterways of the Port of New York and New Jersey forms one of the most intricate natural harbors in the world and one of the busiest ports of the United States. The harbor opens onto the New York Bight in the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast and Long Island Sound to the northeast.
The Rahway River is a river in Essex, Middlesex, and Union Counties, New Jersey, United States, The Rahway, along with the Elizabeth River, Piles Creek, Passaic River, Morses Creek, the Fresh Kills River, has its river mouth at the Arthur Kill.
Overpeck Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, approximately 8 miles (13 km) long, in Bergen County in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The lower broad mouth of the creek is part of the extended tidal estuary of the lower Hackensack and of the adjacent wetland region known as the New Jersey Meadowlands.
Berry's Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River in the New Jersey Meadowlands in Bergen County, New Jersey. The creek watershed contains a diverse array of wetlands, marshes, and wildlife. The creek runs through a densely populated region and has been subject to extensive industrial pollution during the 19th and 20th centuries. Several companies discharged toxic chemicals into the creek in the 20th century, and these chemicals have remained in the sediment. The creek has the highest concentrations of methyl mercury of any fresh-water sediment in the world. Portions of the creek watershed are Superfund sites and cleanup projects began in the late 20th century.
Crosswicks Creek is a 25.3-mile-long (40.7 km) tributary of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey.
Riverbend is the name of two sections of Hudson County, New Jersey.
Fresh Kills is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, formerly New York City's principal landfill.
Sharps Run is a 4.04-mile (6.50 km) stream that drains into the Southwest Branch Rancocas Creek, in Burlington County, New Jersey. It drains an area of 4.41 square miles (11.4 km2).
Morses Creek is a stream in Union County, New Jersey. It is a tributary of the Arthur Kill along with other rivers and streams, including the Elizabeth River, Rahway River, Piles Creek and Fresh Kills, and via Newark Bay, the Passaic River and the Hackensack River. Earlier names include Thompson's or Nine Mile Creek as well as Morse's Creek or Morse Creek. It is named for the family of Peter Morse, also spelled "Morss," who settled here in the 1600s and remained for 200 years; Morse family headstones may still be seen to this day.
Hawk Rise Sanctuary is a 95-acre (38 ha) ecological preserve and wetland complex in Linden, New Jersey, bordering the Rahway River. It is at the lower reaches of the Rahway River Parkway.
The Rahway River Parkway is a greenway of parkland along the banks the main stem Rahway River and its tributaries in Union County, New Jersey, United States. Created in the 1920s, it was one of the inaugural projects of the newly-created Union County Parks Commission. It was designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm, sons of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The Rahway River Greenway plan expands on the original design. Many of the crossings of the river are late 19th century or early 20th century bridges. The East Coast Greenway uses paths and roads along the parkway.
Pumpkin Patch Brook is a stream in Union and Middlesex counties in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a tributary of Robinson's Branch of the Rahway River.
The South Branch Rahway River flows north north through Woodbridge Township, New Jersey before entering the Rahway River in Rahway, New Jersey, 4.5 miles from the Arthur Kill. Its source is the Roosevelt Park lake in Edison, New Jersey.
Smith Creek is a stream in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, United States, emptying into the Arthur Kill 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of the Woodbridge River. It was named for John Smith, one of the group who in 1667 purchased the land parcel from Governor Philip Carteret that became Woodbridge. Its navigable length is 0.6 miles (0.97 km), and there are nine marinas in that stretch. The creek draws less than 3 to 3.5 feet of water, limiting its use to shallow draft boats. Dredging of the creek in the region of the marinas was a 2013 priority for Woodbridge Township after Hurricane Sandy. The creek is a "minor freshwater tributary" to Arthur Kill, with higher flows in the spring, and less in late summer and fall. Public Service Enterprise Group has a generating station 0.6 miles (0.97 km) north of the mouth of Smith Creek. One mile north of the mouth is an oil refining and storage facility. In 2013 "corrective action" was taken against the Hess Corporation, after selling the property, for soil and groundwater contamination, including arsenic, lead and benzene. An old reference states:
Transatlantic sailing vessels once docked in Woodbridge, but silt from the clay pits converted Smith Creek into an inconsequential brook. Until the 1880s Woodbridge was a fashionable watering place. The Arthur Kill is now so spoiled by oil and sewage even gulls avoid it.
Robinsons Branch is a tributary of the Rahway River in Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey, United States.
Marshes Creek is a tidal tributary of the Rahway River in Linden, New Jersey, United States.
The Robinson's Branch Reservoir is a decommissioned water reservoir in Clark, New Jersey. It is the largest body of water in Union County.
