U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a small New Jersey coastal city will receive $500,000 in brownfields funds.
Asbury Park, N.J., will be one of 265 communities nationwide to receive a portion of the $250 million in funding earmarked in last year's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to a June 30 EPA news release.
"EPA's Brownfields Program breathes new life into communities by helping to turn contaminated and potentially dangerous sites into productive economic contributors," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in the news release. "Thanks to President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are significantly ramping up our investments in communities, with the bulk of our funding going to places that have been overburdened and underserved for far too long."
The funds will be used to clean four vacant sites on Springwood and Ridge avenues which are contaminated with harmful pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals and volatile organic compounds, according to the release. The grant funds will pay for community outreach activities for the four properties.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside $1.5 billion to "advance environmental justice, spur economic revitalization and create jobs by cleaning up contaminated, polluted or hazardous brownfield properties," the release reported. New Jersey communities received about $6.5 million of those funds for Asbury Park, Camden Redevelopment Agency, Hamilton Township and New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
"Asbury Park will benefit from the powerful tool of brownfields, which helps overburdened communities in New Jersey address local inequities by providing a means to revitalize properties and promote environmental health, economic growth and job creation," EPA Region 2 Administrator Lisa F. Garcia said in the news release. "The brownfields program transforms communities, and BIL gives the program a huge infusion of funding with a historic $1.5 billion dollars that will be leveraged to make a real and lasting on-the-ground difference for communities across the country."
