U.S. Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), applauded President Barack Obama’s allocating $1 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Passaic River Reevaluation Study in his proposed national budget for Fiscal Year 2013.
The proposed funding follows the lawmakers’ request to the Obama Administration in June 2011 to make the reevaluation study a national budget priority. It also comes a few days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dedicated $250,000 from its own general operating fund to the study for Fiscal Year 2012.
“ Hurricane Irene and other storms have wreaked havoc on communities in the Passaic River Basin and I am pleased President Obama heard our call to fund this vital effort ,” stated Lautenberg, a member of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the Army Corps of Engineers. “ Funding this project demonstrates our commitment to helping more than 2.5 million New Jerseyans in the basin who are impacted by flooding year after year. While there’s a lot of work to be done, this support will help us find a comprehensive, long-term solution to protect families in the region. I will work with my fellow appropriators in the Senate to ensure this funding request is enacted. ”
“I am incredibly pleased that President Obama is making good on his commitment to help New Jersey communities along the Passaic River – communities he visited first hand after Hurricane Irene,” said Menendez . “It’s time we found a long term solution to the flooding cycle that continuously affects the area and I will do everything I can to ensure this financial allocation remains in the final budget .”
“ Today, the federal government and President Obama made a clear commitment to helping our community find a long-term solution to the destructive cycle of flooding that residents in the Passaic River Basin have had to face on an almost annual basis .” said Pascrell, a member of the House Budget Committee. “ I am very grateful that President Obama did not forget what he saw when he walked flood-ravaged areas of Paterson and Wayne last summer. I thank him for the funding he has allotted in his proposed budget to this important Passaic River reevaluation, and I will do everything I can to see that this allocation remains intact as we move forward in the budget process. ”
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Dredging Today Staff, February 14, 2012