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EPA Promotes Revitalization with Grants in New Jersey

Release Date: 05/11/2005
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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, May 11, 2005

(#05048) NEW YORK -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today highlighted over $75 million awarded nationally, and over $2.7 million awarded in New Jersey, to promote brownfields revitalization with the presentation of a $200,000 check to the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey. The City will use the funds to assess a former anodizing plant on Livingston Street, which is thought to be contaminated with chromium and other heavy metals. Funds will also be used to perform community outreach and to develop a cleanup plan for the site.

"For almost a decade, EPA's Brownfield's program has been empowering states, communities, and other stakeholders in redevelopment," said acting EPA Regional Administrator Kathleen C. Callahan. "Based on our successes in New Jersey, we've learned that brownfields are a good investment for everyone."

The assessment of the Livingston Street site is part of a larger redevelopment effort in the neighborhood that will bring commercial shops, such as a supermarket, pharmacy and other retail establishments, as well as housing, to the area. Through a prior brownfields assessment grant awarded in 1997, the City completed assessments at four other sites and follow-up assessment activities at two sites.

EPA's brownfields program provides communities the tools they need to reclaim and restore thousands of brownfields sites, including sites impacted by petroleum, that present relatively low risks to people's health. Four competitive grants programs provide funding to eligible applicants for brownfields assessments, cleanups and job training, and revolving loan funds. The brownfields program allows local governments and nonprofit organizations to apply for funding, greatly expanding the pool eligible for assistance.

In addition to the City of Elizabeth, EPA is awarding the following brownfields grants in New Jersey:

• Passaic County, the City of Plainfield, and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission - $200,000 each to assess sites for the presence of hazardous substances.
• The City of Plainfield and the Middlesex County Improvement Authority - $200,000 each to assess brownfields sites for petroleum contamination.
• The City of Trenton - two grants of $200,000 each to clean up brownfields sites.
• Isles, Inc. of Trenton, and Essex County - $200,000 each for job training.