Grants Will Pay for Newark Brownfield Cleanup

Three federal grants totalling $600,000 have been awarded for the cleanup of a defunct chemical plant in Newark, Sen. Frank Lautenberg announced Wednesday.

“These grants will help revitalize abandoned and contaminated properties, and make New Jersey communities more attractive for families and businesses to lay down roots,” said Lautenberg, who recently sponsored legislation to reauthorize the federal brownfields program.

The grants, provided by the US Environmental Proection Agency, will be used for work at the Orbis site, 55 Virginia St., and at Orbis Products, 47-63 McClellan St., where there is groundwater contamination. The factory has been closed since at least 1996, according to a federal brownfields registry.

Funding totalling $3.8 million was awarded for cleanups in five other communities as well as Newark.