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EPA Joins Senator Torricelli and Representative Frelinghuysen in Morris County For Brownfields Award

Release Date: 08/31/1998
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(#98118) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, including Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox, joined U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli and Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen and county and local officials today at Jackson Avenue Park to present Morris County Freeholder Director Frank Druetzler a $200,000 check under EPA's national Brownfields Pilot Program. The goal of the Brownfield Economic Redevelopment Initiative is the renewal of industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. The focus of the Morris County pilot project will be the redevelopment of the Rockaway River Basin. The money will be used for site assessments and assessment related activities.

Ms. Fox presented the check at a waterfall/park area along the Rockaway River in Rockaway Borough. "The Brownfields program addresses a very real community need -- the return of dormant property to productivity," said Ms. Fox. "It provides a way for local residents to participate in decision-making and put their stamp on the redevelopment process."

Morris County has been an industrial area since the Revolutionary War, largely due to its local iron ore deposits along the Rockaway River. As the iron industry waned, many potentially contaminated sites were abandoned. A 40 mile stretch of the Rockaway River and its associated aquifers in shoreline communities may be contaminated.

Control of these projects rests at the community level. Local officials, bankers, developers and community representatives define the problems and design the solutions. EPA's role is to support and facilitate this process and to act as a catalyst for change.

"This pilot project will help keep EPA's Brownfields program in the mainstream of the county's strong redevelopment efforts," Ms. Fox added. Since 1995, EPA has provided $42 million in grants for 228 Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilots allowing communities nationwide to begin the process of redeveloping brownfields. This year alone, EPA will expand the program nationally with 71 new Brownfields Assessment Demonstration grants. EPA has selected a total of twelve Brownfield pilots in New Jersey, including Morris County. The other municipalities in the state that have been selected for these EPA grants are: Camden, Trenton, Elizabeth, Perth Amboy, Newark, Jersey City, Hudson and Middlesex counties, Atlantic City, Long Branch and Paterson.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]