The Daily Newarker — Press Wire

For Immediate Release

CITY OF NEWARK AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY MARK ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

OF AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009

Mayor Booker highlights brownfields federal cleanup grants,

which are being used to remediate contaminated City properties

Newark, NJ – February 17, 2010 - Mayor Cory A. Booker, Newark Municipal Council Members, EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck, Deputy Mayor of Economic and Housing Development Stefan Pryor, Sustainability Officer Chelsea Albucher and other dignitaries marked the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and highlighted the use of federal stimulus funds to remediate three brownfield sites, during a press conference in the City Hall Rotunda, today.

EPA brownfields grants address properties at which expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2009, Newark received $600,000 in ARRA funds to conduct cleanups at three sites: a former gas station on Bergen Street in the South Ward; the NSC Plating and Polishing Company on South 12^th Street in the West Ward; and the International Metallurgical Services site on Blanchard Street in the East Ward. The stimulus-funded cleanup activities will help reclaim these three sites for productive uses. The South Ward site is slated for retail use, the West Ward site for housing, and the East Ward site for light industrial purposes. Each development is part of a broader neighborhood development strategy that benefits the City and its residents at large.

“As we continue our transformation of Newark, we are making sustainability and ‘green’ policies a central part of our efforts. Thanks to our partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and the stimulus dollars received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we are able to remediate once-blighted brownfields in our City, and restore them to productive use, which will improve the environment and health of all of our residents. Together with our community partners we are continuing to build a stronger, safer, prouder City,” Mayor Booker said.

“A year after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it’s clear that the environment, public health and the economy will benefit from projects like these in Newark,” said Ms. Enck. “Thanks to recovery act funding, contaminated, abandoned lots that pose risks for the surrounding community can be turned into cleaned up, safe parcels of land that, when redeveloped, will create jobs and boost the local economy.”

The grants highlighted today are part of the overall $358.3 million of Federal Stimulus funding the City of Newark and its community partners have been awarded to date. Combined, this funding is helping to provide essential services, stabilize neighborhoods, save energy, and create jobs. The use of our stimulus funds has been designed to see us through hard times and lay the foundation for the long-term vibrancy of the City.

“The brownfields reclamation projects highlighted today are examples of Newark’s commitment to deploying our resources in such a way as to realize the ideals of sustainable development -development that yields triple bottom line benefits – benefiting our economy; supporting our environmental quality and neighborhood well-being; and creating job opportunities for residents,” remarked Deputy Mayor Pryor who served as the Master of Ceremonies for the press conference.

On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, providing more than $370 million for environmental cleanups and upgrades across New Jersey. Recovery Act funding is paying for more than $161 million in Clean Water State Revolving Funds, over $43 million for drinking water projects, well over $6 million in clean diesel projects, almost $160 million for Superfund cleanups, nearly $5 million to address leaking underground storage tanks, and $2.25 million for brownfields assessments and cleanups, across the nation.

“New Jersey, one of the nation’s historic industrial areas, today grapples with reclaiming polluted resources, managing hazardous and solid waste and retrofitting our aging infrastructure and building stock. Together with our State and Federal partners, we are growing smart and sensibly through providing strategic brownfields investments, energy upgrades, transportation choice, and incentives that drive investment to metropolitan areas. By doing so we are serving communities – including some of the most densely populated areas of the country,” said City Sustainability Officer Chelsea Albucher. “Energy, transportation, environmental and community development programs are helping us in Newark turn our challenges into assets – for example, we are realizing new opportunities for growth on defunct brownfields.”

The Business Administrator Michelle L. Thomas and Chief Policy Advisor R. Erich Caulfield led the City’s aggressive strategy to secure competitive stimulus dollars and did so in a manner that was participatory, engaging stakeholders up-front in the development of the applications and also in the  implementation of the projects.

“From the beginning of the process, even before the legislation became law, we dedicated ourselves to getting the most that we could for our residents. To make sure that we maximized the impact of the stimulus, we actively engaged the community, local businesses and nonprofits, soliciting their ideas, energy, and input throughout the process. As a result, we have successfully competed for millions of dollars that we otherwise would not have received. The relationships that we have strengthened and formed as a result of the stimulus will continue to benefit the City for years to come,” said Business Administrator Michelle L. Thomas in a statement.

Since Mayor Booker took office in 2006, the City of Newark has successfully competed for more than $2 million of EPA funding, and is also partnering with community organizations to prepare residents for brownfields-related jobs. Newark has documented success in projects like the Mt. Olivet AMB Liberty Logistics, a nine-acre former brownfields site that was re-developed in 2008, and now employs 60 people. In addition, under Mayor Booker, Newark has seen the largest expansion of open space this century – a doubling of available parkland, which has included brownfields reclamation.

The Booker administration has also committed itself to transparency and up-front community involvement in its environmental programs. The City has involved stakeholders in designing applications and has posted information about the City’s stimulus funding on its website. For more information about Newark, visit http://www.ci.newark.nj.us

When President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, he directed the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at http://www.recovery.gov.

For more information about projects funded through ARRA in this region, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region02/eparecovery.  For more information about EPA’s Brownfields program, visit http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

For more information on municipal programs to save energy, or any other Newark municipal issue, contact the Newark Non-Emergency Call Center at (973) 733-4311.

-NEWARK-

Contact:        Press Information Office (973) 733-8004

                Email: pressoffice@ci.newark.nj.us

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - (212) 637-3662 


Elizabeth Totman, Press Officer,


totman.elizabeth@epa.gov

About the City of Newark, New Jersey

Newark, commonly referred to as Brick City, is the third oldest city in the United States and the largest in New Jersey, with a population of more than 280,000 people. Newark sits on one of the nation’s largest transportation super-structures including an international airport, major rail connections, major highway intersections and the busiest seaport on the east coast.

With a new Administration as of July 2006, Newark continues to see signs of a strong revival.  In population, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the northeast. Its six major colleges and universities are further expanding their presence. The production of affordable housing has doubled, businesses are returning and crime is going down. There is still much work to be done but Newark is on its way to achieving its mission:  to set a national standard for urban transformation.

For more information on the City of Newark, please visit our website at www.ci.newark.nj.us

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cityofnewarknj

HIGHLIGHTS OF NEWARK’S GREEN ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The City of Newark has numerous green initiatives underway to enhance quality of life, public health and support economic development.  The City has made significant progress in greening municipal operations and in “greening” the City at large.  For Newark, green is about the economy, the environment and social equity.  Here are some highlights: 

GREENING THE CITY

·       Newark’s first Sustainability Officer was hired in August 2008, and first Environmental Commission sworn in March 2009.  A package of proposed green ordinances is being developed. 

·       Sustainability is being folded into our master plan, design guidelines, economic development strategy, and funding for development of our Sustainability Action Plan recently secured. 

·       Green Space: With more than $40 million dollars committed, the City is in the midst of the largest open space expansion and rehabilitation in over a century, and has already doubled City park land.

·       Gardens & Trees: The City’s Adopt a Lot program encourages community gardens and the City has planted about 1,000 trees a year with help from our residents and businesses.

·       Green Building: Through our property disposition and tax incentives, the City encourages green building and has hundreds of energy star affordable housing units in the pipeline as well as LEED qualified residential development, such as Richardson Lofts and Lincoln Park townhouses.  The City is also greening its new capital construction including the new police precinct.   Also, in partnership with NJHMFA and NJ BPU we have held two green building workshops.  

·       Riverfront: like many older industrial cities our river and riverfront is polluted and inaccessible.   We are building Newark’s first riverfront park designed with community input and creating a plan for our entire stretch our riverfront.

·       Stormwater: Drafted enhanced stormwater regulations.


·       Brownfields: Drawing down over $4 million of federal and state funding for brownfields assessment and cleanup to bring underutilized property back into productive use. 

SAVING ENERGY SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT

·       Climate Prosperity Initiative:  Recognizing the potential to realize savings through energy efficiency, the City has developed a collaborative energy initiative to address the municipal, residential and commercial sectors.  We are connecting residents to weatherization programs that can reduce utility bills, connecting businesses to retrofit programs and supporting job-training programs so that residents are prepared to participate in the clean energy economy. 

·       Our homes pollute more than our cars and buildings are a significant source of a city’s carbon footprint.  This year alone, we expect to weatherize 1,000 homes (450 PSE&G and 550 La Casa); retrofit 60 businesses and non-profits and address at least 5 municipal buildings.

·       Engaging residents and youth through workshops, fairs and activities such as energy efficient light bulb distribution – more than 10,000 Energy Star bulbs were distributed this past year!

·       Like many Port communities, our community suffers from air quality issues that result from transportation-related pollution.  We are working with local stakeholders and the Port Authority to mitigate air quality impacts.  Initial steps include getting over 600 of the most polluting trucks off the road, phasing out polluting ship fuel and electrifying cargo-handling equipment. 

·       We are also promoting clean power choice and renewable energy.  The City has three geothermal schools; and two sizeable solar installations, one on a building supply center and another on a municipal garage. 

·       City is field-testing a fleet of 100 percent electric MINI E vehicles with no tail pipe emissions!

GREEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

·               Greening existing businesses by helping them be sustainable through energy conservation, hiring locally, and participating in community initiatives such as tree planting. 

·               Attracting new green business such as Innovation Fuels, a biodiesel producer, and three new solar companies. 

GREEN JOBS

·               The City has developed a Green Jobs Network with NewarkWORKS to stimulate collaboration and coordination across organizations to provide residents with quality training, in areas such as weatherization, brownfields remediation, landscaping, solar installation and other green career path jobs.

·               Green Jobs for All – our network of local organizations have programs for youth, ex-offenders, career transition and white-collar workers. 

·       Laborers launched Local 55 in Newark, which is providing union jobs for weatherization workers. Clean & Green provides ex-offenders with immediate attachment to meaningful work reclaiming vacant lots.  EPA funded brownfields job training is ready to launch. NewarkWorks supported solar job training and trainees are currently installing solar on a city leased municipal garage.  

ACCESS TO FRESH FOODS

·       Fresh Foods:  To address the fresh food deserts common in inner city areas, we have a three pronged strategy – forgiveable loans for small grocers who expand availability of produce, meat and dairy; attracting supermarkets to underserved areas; and bringing farmstands with locally and regionally grown produce into our Family Success Centers throughout the City.

·       Supporting local urban agriculture initiatives and community gardens.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

·       Newark is a Model Lead Safe City and is working to reduce the high levels of lead poisoning incidence in our community. 

·    The City is also addressing other environmentally related illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease that disproportionately affect low income and inner city communities. 

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION & INVOLVEMENT

·       Numerous workshops and green events have been held, such as Newark’s Green Future Summit; the Green Fair at JFK Recreation Center; the Youth Leaders Earth Day Forum, and the Green Workshop for Faith Based Organizations

·       The Newark Public School system has formed a team that has prioritized environmental education, recycling and energy.

·       With assistance from the Sustainability Officer, NPS is scoping a Green Big Picture alternative school; pursuing signing up 12 schools for the State’s Energy Education program; and developing RFP for solar installations on up to 15 buildings.




Going green is not something that can be done in a vacuum or by any one office or program.  Going green requires broad participation – hence our slogan:  City of Newark – Go Green With Us!

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