There are 21 municipalities in New Jersey with a combined sewer system (CSS), where stormwater runoff, human waste and industrial wastewater run through the same pipe. The system overflows when the lines exceed capacity during heavy rainfalls or snowmelts—discharging untreated wastewater directly into rivers and even backing up into streets, flooding people's homes—although, in many cities, such as Paterson, it doesn't take much rain to overwhelm the system.

When Hurricane Ida pummeled New Jersey in Sept. 2021, bringing tornadoes and flash floods from south to north, the Ivy Hill neighborhood along Seton Hall University and Ivy Hill Park in Newark, a majority Black neighborhood, saw its streets turn into rivers. Floodwaters reached three to five feet high, sweeping away cars and spilling into homes. Residents incurred tens of thousands of dollars in damages. Although they say Seton Hall isn’t responsible for all of the water, the flooding problem has been made worse from decades of construction and has remained unresolved since 2001, when residents first brought the issue to the attention of the university after Hurricane Allison.

For low-income and marginalized communities in New Jersey's major cities, archaic sewer overflow systems pose serious environmental damage and health risks to residents who have historically experienced deep socio-economic inequalities and environmental racism. But with hurricane season just around the corner and the threat of raw sewage spilling into their streets, weary Newark residents are finally seeing the beginning of environmental justice in stormwater management as community organizers push their city to build baseline green infrastructure projects.