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EPA Announces $4.2 Million for Brownfields Projects in New Jersey

Release Date: 05/08/2009
Contact Information: Mary Mears (212) 637-3673, mears.mary@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y) Five communities in New Jersey will share an estimated $4.2 million to help assess, cleanup and revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use. The grants, to be awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, include $1.8 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and $ 2.4 million from the EPA brownfields general program funding.

“Cleaning and reusing contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near brownfields communities throughout New Jersey,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator George Pavlou, “By revitalizing these sites, we will reduce threats to human health and the environment, create green jobs, promote community involvement, and attract investment in local neighborhoods.”

Applicants selected to receive Recovery Act funds are:

Camden, NJ
$200,000 for assessing sites with hazardous substances
$200,000 for assessing sites with petroleum

EPA has selected the Camden Redevelopment Agency for two brownfields assessment grants to conduct ten Phase I and four Phase II site assessments along the Interstate 676 and Federal Street corridors. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities. Petroleum grant funds will be used to perform the same tasks at sites with potential petroleum contamination.

Jersey City, NJ
$600,000 (three $200,000 grants) for cleaning up sites with hazardous substances

EPA has selected the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency for three brownfields cleanup grants to clean up the 75 Woodward Street site, which has a long history of industrial and commercial use; the Garfield Junkyard site on Garfield Avenue, which was used primarily for auto repair and salvage; and the JR Transportation site at 1000 Garfield Avenue, which was used as a seed storehouse for more than 50 years and later became a bus maintenance facility. All three sites are contaminated with polyaromatic hydrocarbons and metals. Grant funds will be used to dispose of contaminated soil, place a two-foot cap on the properties, and file deeds of notice for the sites.

Newark, NJ
$400,000 for cleaning up sites with hazardous substances
$200,000 for cleaning up sites with petroleum

EPA has selected the City of Newark for three brownfields cleanup grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the NSC Plating and Polishing Company at 242 South 12th Street. The site is a former plating and polishing facility that is contaminated with cadmium, nickel, and zinc.

Hazardous substances grant funds also will be used to clean up the International Metallurgical Services site at 190-202 Blanchard Street. The 1.6-acre site is a former ethanol production facility and metal recovery operation that is contaminated with beryllium and other metals. Petroleum grant funds will be used to clean up a former gas station at 1037 Bergen Street that is contaminated with petroleum products. Grant funds also will be used to sample groundwater and conduct community engagement activities at the three sites.

Plainfield, NJ
$200,000 to clean up sites with hazardous substances

EPA has selected the City of Plainfield for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the Lee Place site at 208-222 Lee Place. This vacant one-half acre parcel was occupied by a dry cleaning plant from the 1940s through the 1990s. Soil and groundwater at the site are contaminated with perchloroethylene, semi-volatile organic compounds, and co-mingled petroleum products. Grant funds will be used to remove underground storage tanks and contaminated soil, clean up groundwater, and support community outreach activities.

Applicants selected to receive brownfields general program funds are:

Middlesex County, NJ
$1,000,000 for assessing sites with hazardous substances

EPA has selected the Middlesex County Improvement Authority for a brownfields assessment coalition grant. Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds will be used to inventory brownfields and conduct environmental site assessments at a minimum of five sites in the City of Perth Amboy and the Township of Woodbridge. Grant funds also will be used to support community education and outreach activities.

Newark, NJ
$750,000 to capitalize a revolving loan program for sites with hazardous substances
$250,000 to capitalize a revolving loan program for sites with petroleum

EPA has selected the City of Newark for a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the City of Newark will provide loans to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum. Grant funds will be used to market the revolving loan fund and conduct community outreach activities. The city anticipates awarding two hazardous substances and three petroleum loans.

Plainfield, NJ
$200,000 to assess sites with hazardous substances
$200,000 to assess sites with petroleum

EPA has selected the City of Plainfield for two brownfields assessment grants. Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct five Phase I and five Phase II environmental site assessments and support community outreach activities. Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct the same tasks at sites with potential petroleum contamination.

The grants will help to assess, clean and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition.

The Brownfields Program encourages cleanup and redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 brownfields sites. Since the beginning of the Brownfields Program, EPA has awarded 1449 assessment grants totaling over $337.3 million, 242 revolving loan fund grants totaling over $233.4 million, and 534 cleanup grants totaling $93.3 million.

Information on the national EPA Brownfields Program, including brownfields activities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is also available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.

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