[3] The Atlantic Ocean at Sandy Hook and Rockaway Point is approximately 11 miles (18 km) away and reached by tidal straits dredged to maintain shipping lanes.

The area around the bay was called Achter Kol, which translates as behind or beyond the ridge and refers to Bergen Hill.

Elizabeth is the site of the first English speaking European settlement (1675) in New Jersey, its port at the southern end of the bay a major maritime hub during the colonial era.

[6] The western edge of Newark Bay was originally shallow tidal wetlands covering approximately 12 square miles (31 km2).

[7][8] Work on the channel and terminal facilities on its north side accelerated during World War I, when the federal government took control of Port Newark.

In 1958, the Port Authority dredged another shipping channel which straightened the course of Bound Brook, the tidal inlet forming the boundary between Newark and Elizabeth.

The Howland Hook Marine Terminal is a container port facility located at the northwestern corner of Staten Island at the entrance to the Arthur Kill.

"One blue crab in Newark Bay has enough dioxin to give somebody cancer," said David Pringle, spokesman for Clean Water Action.

[22] Some industrial facilities discharged wastes into the tributaries during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, prior to passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act.

[24][25] Pronounced endocrine disruption and reproductive effects have been reported in Newark Bay Mummichog, often used as a sentinel and bioindicator species.

[26] Reproductive effects reported are primarily due to a chemical inhibition of vitellogenesis and oogenesis, which are highly conserved processes for oviparous (egg-laying) animals.

[27] Killifish within Newark Bay have also been reported to chemically adapt (desensitize) to aryl hydrocarbon receptor mediated pollutants (i.e.

[28] Killifish within Newark Bay have emerged as a popular tool for studying population effects of historical and emerging chemicals of concern due to their chronic exposure to complex mixtures of common contaminants, and subsequent effects due to living within a polluted environment.

[29] In December 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report that blamed the Orange Sun for the accident.