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Latest Awards Totaling $200 Thousand Push EPA Contributions in Hudson County for Brownfields Redevelopment to $1.1 Million

Release Date: 04/12/2000
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(#00058) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- At a ceremony today in Hoboken along the Hudson River waterfront, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox presented Hudson County with a symbolic check totaling $200,000 to supplement previous EPA funding to advance the redevelopment of the county's brownfields. The grant of $150,000 will be used to further evaluate assessed sites with the best potential for redevelopment and the $50,000 will support new efforts to improve "livability" in urban areas through the preservation and creation of green spaces or parks. EPA supports communities across the country through its Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative - a national effort to renew industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. Hudson County is developing an inventory of its priority brownfields and targeting sites with active reuse potential for assessment and cleanup. Public outreach is underway to involve communities in this process. Hudson County is one of only two recipients in New Jersey awarded both a Brownfields Supplemental grant and a green space grant today, the other is Trenton. With the decline in manufacturing in America, Hudson County was particularly hard hit. Since the 1980's alone, manufacturing jobs in the county have declined by 47%. This decline has left the county with about 650 brownfields sites, an average of 14 per square mile. EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox joined state and local officials today on the County's Hudson River waterfront to present two checks to County Executive Robert C. Janiszewski. "We stand here today with a vision of a redeveloped Hudson County Waterfront boasting an unmatched view of the entire Manhattan skyline," Ms. Fox said. "EPA continues to support Hudson County with its brownfields redevelopment and preservation of green space because these efforts provide a variety of benefits that improve our environment and our economy. The efforts to revive neglected and derelict urban sites are working thanks to the coordination of government resources through a partnership between EPA, the county, other federal agencies like HUD and EDA, and the state," according to Ms. Fox. With today's announcement, the county is one of 56 municipalities nationwide to receive the Supplemental brownfields funding and one of 21 areas to receive $50,000 to improve livability through he preservation of green space. In 1998, EPA awarded Hudson County a $200,000 grant for a pilot project that targeted four county municipalities -- Harrison, Hoboken, Kearny and North Bergen. In 1999, the county received a $500,000 grant for a revolving loan fund for decontamination and redevelopment work. Combined with the brownfields grant awarded to Jersey City in 1997, and the awards being presented today, EPA has contributed $1.1 million to support brownfields redevelopment efforts in Hudson County. There are 15 municipalities participating in the National Brownfields Economic Redevelopment program in New Jersey, including Trenton, Camden, Newark, Perth Amboy, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Atlantic City, Long Branch, Paterson, Hudson, Middlesex and Morris Counties, Orange, Phillipsburg and the Hackensack Meadowlands District. Over the past six years, these grants represent an investment of over $6 million dollars to assist in the redevelopment of New Jersey's brownfields.