For Immediate Release
Contact: Megan Steele, megan.steele@sierraclub.org
The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $7.3 million in grants for projects to enhance ecosystems and water quality in the Paulins Kill and Pequest River watersheds. The grants are funded by Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement money.
The Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter is concerned that NRD money is not going to immediate areas impacted by pollution. In the past, the chapter has raised the issue that the DEP has not followed the concurrent resolution and amendment ACR127 that clearly states monies from settlements relating to NRD must first be used to restore, repair, or replace damaged or lost natural resources in the immediate area in which the damage occurred.
“It is good that the DEP is allocating money to protect watersheds in the Skylands region. However, we need to make sure that NRD money is spent on communities that are directly impacted by polluting facilities and toxic sites. These urban areas are doubly victimized when the state diverts NRD money to wealthy and rural areas. Instead of funding stream restoration projects in Warren County, we should be directing these funds to places that have been directly impacted by oil spills and other discharges of hazardous substances,” said Megan Steele, Communications Coordinator, Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter.