Menendez, Lautenberg Announce More Than $14 Million In Sandy Relief Funding for Major Water Infrastructure Improvements

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senators FrankR.Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today announced three federal grants totaling more than $14 million to support water infrastructure facilities that were damagedin New Jersey bySuperstorm Sandy. The funding, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will support recovery efforts conducted by the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the Middlesex County Utilities Authority.

"This federal funding willhelprepair New Jersey's water infrastructure, which was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy,"said Lautenberg,Vice Chairmanof the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds FEMA. "Clean, quality drinking water is critical to our public health,and we will keep working to make sure New Jersey's water infrastructure is repaired and modernizedso that it can withstand the next storm.These grants are a start, but we won't have a full recovery until the Housepassesastrongdisaster aid bill for Sandy victims like the one that we passed in the Senate."

"Superstorm Sandy wrought havoc on New Jersey's water infrastructure, disrupting delivery of drinking water as well as treatment of waste water, and the storm created dangerous situations with scattered debris,"said Senator Menendez."In the wake of the House Republicans' failure to vote on bipartisan Sandy relief legislation, these federal reimbursements are even more vital to our recovery. I will continue to fight for federal resources, including a robust Sandy relief package, to help New Jersey's public entities come back stronger than they were before the storm."

Individual details of the three federal grants are listed below:

The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC): $11,201,779.50. The PVSC made extensive repairs to its sewage treatment facility, which was severely damaged during SuperstormSandy. PVSC was flooded and had to install dewatering centrifuges to continue treating wastewater pending repairs to its mainsewage treatment facility.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP): $1,976,250. This federal funding will reimburse the NJDEP for labor and equipments costs required to remove more than 60,000 cubic yards of debris caused by Sandy.

Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA): $1,125,000. The MCUAis installingnew water pumps and special gates to protect the Sayreville Pump Station, which was damaged by storm surges during Sandy. The installation will protect the facility from future storms and allow ongoing repairs to be completed.

In December, the Senate passed abipartisan$60.4 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill inresponse to Sandy whichwould haveprovided $810 million to repair and improve water infrastructure, including New Jersey water treatment plants like the PVSC and MCUA.

TheHouseof Representatives had planned to vote on a Sandy disaster bill earlier this week but HouseRepublican leadershipdelayed the vote.TheSenate-passedlegislation includes federal resources to helpresidents, homeowners, businesses, and local governments recover and rebuild,improve New Jersey's beaches and transit system, and repair roads, bridges, and infrastructure. Lautenberg and Menendez will be working topassthe overdue legislation as soon as possible in the new session of Congress.

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