Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced on Tuesday that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded more than $10 million in new federal funding to New Jersey to restore 30 acres of wetlands in Lincoln Park in the Hackensack River Basin in Jersey City. The grant is the single-largest award from NOAA under the Economic Recovery Law signed by President Obama in February.
The $10,596,006 in funding will allow the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to clean up and restore part of a former industrial and landfill site. This project will help restore wetlands and will create 4,500 feet of creeks. NOAA estimates the grant will create 41 new jobs.
The Lincoln Park Wetland Restoration is a project to restore an 80-acre coastal wetland in the urban industrialized area of the Hackensack River basin. This project will restore the area0s native salt marsh, improve the overall ecological health of the Hackensack River ecosystem and increase public access to the site. Over time, the restoration should increase fish populations and open migratory paths for alewife and blueback herring. – Ricardo Kaulessar