Mayor Daniel Reiman and the Borough Council will be holding a ground breaking ceremony on Thursday, July 21, 2016 at Veteran Pier and Waterfront Park at 11:30 AM. The ceremony celebrates the commencement of the first phase of a multi-year remediation and recreation project that will transform Carteret’s waterfront into a vibrant destination and transportation hub. The first phase of Marina project is fully funded by $23 million in state, county and federal grants.
“This is a momentous occasion in Carteret’s history. We have been working on this project for over ten years and despite all of the bureaucratic hurdles, we are here celebrating Carteret’s victory. Despite all of the past roadblocks we are now breaking ground on Carteret’s future,” said Mayor Reiman.
Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting Company of Massachusetts, who was awarded the $21 million project in May, will begin the process of dredging the cove for the duel purposes of remediating heavy-metal contaminated sediments all the while ensuring there is enough clearance for the draft of boats entering the proposed Marina. The cove will be dredged down to clean sand (17’ depth) to completely and permanently remediate the site. The process is expected to take anywhere from 90 to 180 days and needs to be completed by a December 31st deadline. The deadline correlates with the annual reinstatement of a moratorium on construction in waterways by the New Jersey Environment Protection Agency (NJEPA) that runs January 1st through July 1st. The project will remove 135,000 cubic yards of metal contaminated sediment from the remnants of Carteret’s Industrial park where IT Williams created the largest mahogany plant in the world on site. The dredged material will be amended and stabilized and then transported to the Middlesex County landfill for use as daily cover.
The Borough Waterfront at one point in time housed the largest Mahogany plant in the world. Ichabad T. Williams & Sons (IT Williams) opened in 1838 in New York City and eventually relocated to Carteret. They acquired 70 acres of land on the Waterfront, from Bethlehem Steel Corporation, which gave them 1,300 feet of frontage with the Arthur Kill and allowed them to create a cove for the wood being unloaded from vessels from around the world.
