Carteret, NJ – Mayor Dan Reiman and Councilman Jorge Diaz have announced that the NJ Economic Development Authority (NJ EDA) has approved an additional $5 million grant from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund (HDSRF) Program for Brownfield remediation of the former IT Williams cove at Waterfront Park. The NJ EDA approved the grant on May 13, 2016 and the grant was certified 30 days after the Governor’s veto power expired. Under state law the Governor has 30 days to veto a grant recommendation or the minutes of the NJ EDA.
The Carteret Waterfront Redevelopment Area initially received Brownfield Development Area (BDA) designation by NJDEP in 2006. BDA designation qualifies the area for up to $5 million in annual environmental investigation and remediation funding.
The funding has allowed the Borough to continue with plans to redevelop the former industrial sites along the Arthur Kill Waterway. The BDA program provides grants to public entities for cleanup costs of Brownfield designated sites. The combination of BDA funding provides 100% of the cost for environmental investigation and 75% of the remedial action work to be performed in order for the Waterfront area to be beneficially redeveloped.
“Waterfront Park is an ever-evolving success story,” Mayor Reiman commented, “in which more than 30 acres of former Brownfields have been redeveloped and put to use in ways that directly benefit our residents and help redefine our quality of life standards in Carteret. A major part of our vision for the Waterfront’s future is to tie it into the greater region through the provision of accommodations for commercial and recreational boaters, and ultimately as a transportation hub for commuters heading to or from Manhattan via ferry.”
BDA funding will assist with the remediation and dredging that will pave way for the construction of the Carteret Municipal Marina. The municipal marina will include nearly 200 slips for recreational boaters.
As part of the marina project, the Borough will remove 130,000 cubic yards of material from the area that will be treated, stabilized and disposed of at the Middlesex County Landfill.
“We are proud to lead a project that has the benefit of providing active recreational opportunities for Carteret residents while at the same time cleaning up the environment,” said Mayor Reiman. “This will be the largest remediation project on public property in the history of the Borough.”
To date, the total government grants awarded to this environmental remediation and marina project are in excess of $23 million dollars.
