STATE WINS NATIONAL BROWNFIELDS AWARD FOR U.S. STEEL/TRENTON WATERFRONT REDEVELOPMENT

State Wins National Brownfields Award for U.S. Steel/Trenton Waterfronts Redevelopment

New Jersey's brownfield program won the coveted Phoenix Award at the fifth annual Industrial Site Recycling Conference held recently in Pittsburgh.

"This national award recognizes New Jersey's commitment to the state and local community partnerships necessary to support brownfield efforts and, coupled with Governor Whitman's open space initiative. This is sustainable redevelopment in action," said DEP Commissioner Shinn.

The Phoenix Award for Site Selection /Community Impact was awarded to DEP for its US Steel/Roebling case study which described the remediation and redevelopment of the Trenton waterfront. The study also highlighted the cooperative efforts of DEP, the City of Trenton, Mercer County Improvement Authority and the developer. Formerly the site of a steel manufacturing facility, the 31-acre site was cleaned up and redeveloped to contain the Mercer County Waterfront Stadium, the River View Office Park and the Katmandu restaurant.

"Receiving the Phoenix Award demonstrates what can be accomplished when all levels of government work together to improve our environment," said Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer. "Every resident of Trenton and every citizen of New Jersey can be proud of what was accomplished."

Rick Gimello, DEP assistant commissioner for Site Remediation, presented the case study during the conference. “This program sends a clear message to those who still ask if redevelopment of contaminated and underutilized industrial sites is a viable and beneficial undertaking. It has been proven successful not only for those firms which can profit from the services provided but for the communities that host the projects as well."

The Phoenix Awards Program is a national award of distinction for brownfield redevelopment that seeks to showcase solutions and innovations of successful brownfield projects. Fifteen finalists were selected from the many projects that were submitted to the Phoenix Award Panel of Judges.

The Phoenix Award recognizes the best project in each of the four major criteria: magnitude of the project; innovative brownfield techniques; environmental regulatory issues that were overcome; and, site selection/community impact.