A New York, le New Jersey reçoit 27 millions de $ pour son programme de protection des zones humides en milieu urbain

Résumé
Le programme complet exigera que plus de 1.5 millions de plantes soient replantées partout dans la région. " nous capitalisons sur des occasions de créer et de préserver des marécages dans un des secteurs les plus urbanisés et industrialisés de la nation," d'aprés le Colonel qui commande la zone.

Tandis que ces projets de restauration sont entrepris pour atténuer les impacts du port, le programme complet aura sur le long terme, des effets positifs sur l'estuaire. L'environnement n'est plus une considération mise de côté.

Les Marécages protègent des ressources en eau potable par le filtrage des polluants, ils fournissent un espace libre de haute qualité et servent d'habitat pour des populations de poissons du New Jersey et la faune et flore, menacés en voie de disparition. "La participation du DEP'S dans cette association pour rétablir des marécages urbains démontre notre engagement à la protection et l'amélioration de cette ressource naturelle sans prix. "

En plus du site de Woodbridge, d'autres secteurs de projet sont prévus ...

NEW YORK, New York, April 25, 2006 (ENS) - To mark Earth Day 2006, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today broke ground on a $4.3 million Woodbridge Creek Ecosystem restoration project to build and preserve wetlands in New Jersey.

Land for the site was donated by the Township of Woodbridge and property access granted by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

This project is part of the ongoing $27 million environmental mitigation program in the Hudson Raritan Estuary and being implemented in conjunction with the $1.6 billion New York and New Jersey Harbor Deepening Project.

The overall program will require more than 1.5 million plants to be placed throughout the region.

"Working with our local, state and federal partners, we are capitalizing on opportunities to create and preserve wetlands in one of the most urbanized, industrialized areas in the nation," said Col. Richard J. Polo, Jr., the Army Corps' New York District commander.

"While these restoration projects are being undertaken to mitigate impacts from the harbor deepening project, the overall program will have long term, positive effects on our estuary long after the deepening projects are complete," he said.

"Let there be no doubt. The Corps is committed in deed and action to environmental cleanup and enhancement," said Col. Polo. "Nearly $30 million of construction work is and will be undertaken with this groundbreaking and more than 1.5 million new plants are being planted in the restored wetlands. The environment isn't a side consideration, nor does it take a back seat to the critical federal channel deepening work. They go hand-in-hand."

"The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is firmly committed to environmental stewardship while ensuring that we continue to enhance our ability to handle increased commerce to the region," said Richard Larrabee, director of the Port Commerce Department.

"Wetlands protect drinking water supplies by filtering out contaminants, provide high quality open space and serve as critical habitat for significant populations of New Jersey's fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species," said DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson. "The DEP's participation in this partnership to restore urban wetlands demonstrates our commitment to protecting and enhancing this priceless natural resource."

In addition to the site in Woodbridge, N.J. other project areas include:

- $3.3 million for the Joseph P. Medwick Park restoration in Carteret, New Jersey, awarded to Dawson Corporation of Clarksburg, N.J.;

- $5.4 million for the salt marsh mitigation project at KeySpan Corporation in Staten Island, New York awarded to New York Concrete Corporation of Staten Island;

- $13 million for the Elder's Point (East) Island restoration in Jamaica Bay, New York, awarded to Galvin Brothers of Great Neck, New York.

The Corps and the Port Authority will be restoring approximately 23 acres of tidal wetlands with an additional 27 acres being set aside for state preservation. This restoration work will offset potential, unavoidable shallow water habitat impacts related to the deepening of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The project was awarded to Rencor Inc. of New Jersey.

In coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the DEP, the project also allows for the restoration of 17.5 acres of tidal wetlands to provide compensatory restoration for the 1990 Exxon Bayway oil spill. The combined sites, including preservation areas, total nearly 70 acres and will be set aside as a wetland conservation area for the State of New Jersey.

Overall, the program will be mitigating, preserving and restoring more than 143 acres of wetland areas to re-establish tidal flow in the region. Once tidal flow to the areas has been reestablished, water and sediment quality should be improved, which is expected to promote the return of native fish and wildlife.

The Hudson-Raritan Estuary, which surrounds the Port of New York and New Jersey, is more than 42,000 square kilometers, making it one of the largest estuaries on the east coast and one of the most populated with 20 million people in the region.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, nearly 80 percent of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary's tidal salt marshes have been lost and even less of its 224,000 acres of freshwater wetlands remain.