Brownfields 2003 Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
              New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Camden,
              NJ
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response
programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection was selected to receive an assessment grant.
The department plans to use the grant to assess a
90-acre landfill located at the confluence of the Cooper
and Delaware  Rivers in the  City of Camden, New
Jersey. Camden (population 79,904) shares a federal
Empowerment Zone designation with the City of
Philadelphia, which is located just across the Delaware
River from this west central New Jersey city. Over the
past 50 years, the population and economy of the city
have steadily declined as a result of rapid
suburbanization and the decline of the manufacturing
sector. Approximately a third of the residents of the
Cramer Hill Neighborhood surrounding the landfill live
in poverty and 38 percent are under the age of 18. The
Hispanic population in Cramer Hill grew by about 20
percent over the last decade and now represents about
65 percent of neighborhood residents. The assessment
and cleanup of the landfill will enable the community to
reclaim and revitalize Camden's blighted waterfront by
transforming a potentially contaminated landfill into a
neighborhood  park complete with nature trails, picnic
areas, and ball fields. The park will help attract
residents, businesses, and economic activity to the area.
                  Assessment Grant

                  $200,000 for hazardous substances

                  EPA has selected the New Jersey Department of
                  Environmental Protection for a brownfields
                  assessment grant. The department intends to use
                  grant funds for assessment of a municipally owned
                  landfill in the Cramer Hill Neighborhood of the City
                  of Camden. Grant funds will also be used for
                  community involvement and outreach activities.

                  Contacts

                  For further information, including specific grant
                  contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
                  news and events, and publications and links, visit
                  the EPA Brownfields Web site
                  (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                  EPA Region 2 Brownfields Team
                  (212) 637-4309
                  EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site
                  (http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/)

                  Grant Recipient: NJ DEP
                  (609) 292-1250

                  The information presented in this fact sheet comes
                  from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
                  accuracy of this information. The cooperative
                  agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
                  Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
                  subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-03-146
        Jun 03

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