Dog Park to Open Saturday

The new dog park on Black Oak Ridge Road will open at 10 a.m. Saturday. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held.

The park is located on a former Superfund site. An ore-processing plant was in operation there from 1948 to 1971; $125 million was spent cleaning up the site to “residential standards.” It was removed from the Superfund list last September.

The park was supposed to open this summer but inclement weather delayed construction work.

The 6-acre park has two dog runs, one each for big and smaller breeds, and playground equipment for children. A $99,000 grant from the Passaic County Open Space Trust Fund and a $350,000 gift from a deceased resident financed the park’s creation.

Residents have expressed concerns about knowing what used to be located on the site. Mayor Chris Vergano has said the township would never do anything to jeopardize the health of Wayne residents or their animals.

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