Town’s ‘gateway areas’ will be focus of study

LAKEWOOD — The federally funded Brownfields Pilot Project study group has narrowed its mission to focus on the township’s “gateway areas” as areas in need of redevelopment and environmental site evaluations.

A citizen group of community stakeholders and partners formed by the lead agency, the Lakewood Development Corporation (LDC), made its decision after reviewing materials presented earlier this month by environmental consultants for the project, the Birdsall Services Group, according to Mayor Charles Cunliffe.

“What we’re seeing here is the first step of a grass-roots brownfields assessment by people who have an interest in our town. That is very positive and very productive,” Cunliffe said in a press release.

The LDC was awarded a $200,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Assesment Pilot Grant to involve the community in an assessment of the township for potential brownfields sites and areas targeted for future revitalization and redevelopment assistance, according to LDC Executive Director Russell K. Corby.

A brownfields is a property whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.

In the latest progress report the “gateway areas” selected have been titled Route 9 Corridor South extending from Route 70 north to Chestnut Street; Route 9 Corridor North from the Howell border, east of Route 9 to County Line Road; and the Route 88/Main Street Central Corridor extending from Clifton Avenue east to Clover Street.

The Route 88/Main Street Central Corridor will be the subject of the group’s walking tour over the next several weeks and prior to its next quarterly meeting. The LDC and the consultants at Birdsall Engineering have invited community partners and stakeholders to take the walking tour of the area in order to become familiar with what a potential brownfields area looks like, according to the press release. These community volunteers are also being asked to consider what could become of the area in order to generate initial recommendations as to redevelopment alternatives.

EPA’s Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and enable sustainable reuse of brownfields.

The pilot project will inventory sites, work with a citizens all-volunteer task force and initiate plans and designs for site response according to the official EPA Web site (www.epa.gov/brownfields/).