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EPA Honors New Jerseyans For Outstanding Environmental Achievements

Release Date: 04/23/1998
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(#98040) New York, N.Y. -- Four individuals and organizations from New Jersey were honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today for their outstanding commitment to protecting the environment as EPA Region 2 Administrator, Jeanne Fox, presented Environmental Quality Awards to the honorees during a ceremony held at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City. Dr. Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme for North America and an Environmental Quality Award recipient, gave the keynote address at today's event.

"The work of the Environmental Quality Award winners has a direct effect on the quality of the environment in New Jersey," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Region 2 Administrator. "The unwavering commitment of these New Jerseyans to making our world a better place should serve as an example to us all. These awards are our way of saying thank you to the adults and young people with whom we share a sense of environmental purpose."

EPA Region 2 presents Environmental Quality Awards annually to individuals, nonprofit groups, educators, businesspeople, government officials and journalists from New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who have made significant contributions to improving the quality of the environment in the region. Winners are chosen by an internal panel that reviews nominations submitted from inside and outside the Agency.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Region 2

Environmental Quality Award Winners: New Jersey

Environmental Educators

Barnegat Bay Estuary Program Public Outreach Workgroup, Toms River

The Barnegat Bay Estuary Program (BBEP) Public Outreach Workgroup plays a key role in educating the public about the pollution problems facing Barnegat Bay and the need for action protect this important natural resource. The BBEP Public Outreach Workgroup has taken its own slogan "Giving Back to the Bay," to heart. The workgroup hosted a huge festival, which included 24 separate venues throughout the Barnegat Bay area, to raise public awareness and encourage public action on behalf of the bay. The festival included activities such as watershed eco-tours by bus and bike, bay boat trips, slide presentations, watershed hiking excursions, field trips and hands-on workshops focused on flyrod fishing, soil conservation and aquatic life.

Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission Environment Center, Lyndhurst

The Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission's Environment Center helps educate thousands of people annually about the crucial environmental role played by the Hackensack Meadowlands. The Center, one of the best environmental education centers in the country, offers wetlands, solid waste and energy conservation graduate seminars for teachers focused on tools that they can use to incorporate environmental education into their classrooms. The Center uses the Hackensack River as a living laboratory for high school students who then share information through the Center's interactive television studio. It also features the world's first Trash Museum, which examines the impact of solid waste on our environment.

Individuals

Luke Kaufman, North Arlington

Luke Kaufman, an Eagle Scout, has constructed 15 barn owl boxes for the many barn owls that will be displaced when their current home, the North Arlington solid waste bailer, is closed and the owls are, in effect, evicted. Luke took action when he learned that the owls would be homeless. He raised the money needed to build the barn owl boxes, and organized a work team that included a carpenter and other experts. Mr. Kaufman did the owls a great service when he identified the problem, and did not rest until he found a solution.

Non-Profit Organization

Alliance for a Living Ocean, Ship Bottom

The Alliance for a Living Ocean's Barnegat Bay Water Monitoring Program is run by more then 50 volunteers who monitor bay waters to establish baseline conditions and assess water quality trends. The volunteers test for temperature, pH, salinity, water depth, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and will soon begin testing for nitrates. This program has provided invaluable data to the state and the federal government, and has enhanced efforts to restore and protect the bay. The program gives the community an active role in the protection of Barnegat Bay.

Nominees for the 1999 Environmental Quality Awards should be sent to Chris Sebastian, 290 Broadway, New York, New York, 10007.

For more information contact:
Mary Mears, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3669 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: mears.mary@epamail.epa.gov