News Release from EPA Region 2

EPA Funding Available for Study of Raritan River in NJ

Contact: Mary Mears (212) 637-3673; mears.mary@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – March 13, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging applications for $100,000 in funding to study contaminated sites and other sources of pollution that are impacting water quality in the lower and middle Raritan River. This funding is part of an EPA Raritan River Initiative, which will support the analysis of existing data to enable environmental agencies, institutions, community groups and local governments to identify data gaps, plan future research and make other environmental decisions.

The Raritan River runs from west of Somerville, N.J. into the Raritan Bay. The river and the surrounding watershed is home to over one million people, providing drinking water, transportation and recreation opportunities and important habitat for wildlife. The watershed is impacted by many sources of pollution, including contaminated sites, industrial facilities and sewage treatment systems. While there is sampling data collected within the Raritan River watershed, this information is fragmented.

“This funding demonstrates the EPA's continued commitment to a cleaner and healthier Raritan River and the health of everyone who enjoys it," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "The data and information collected will help Raritan River communities better understand pollution that has affected river conditions and will assist in decision-making on the best ways to improve water quality.”

Using the funding, the selected applicant will identify high priority sites and sources of pollution that are potentially impacting the river. The resulting site list and associated data will then be made available to the public and put into a format that can be used by state agencies, country and local governments, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders to make environmental decisions. The data would also be used to create an interactive website to show exact locations of potentially polluting sites along the river along with the data for each site.

All applications are due no later than April 23, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Additional information on the grants, including guidance on eligibility and procedures for applying, is available at http://www.epa.gov/region2/grants/ or through http://www.grants.gov.

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