U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-NJ) announced that the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority (BRSA) has been awarded $10.9 million in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make repairs after floods from Superstorm Sandy damaged the electrical distribution switchgear.
Sandy struck New Jersey in late October 2012.
The BRSA, which is based in Union Beach, services more than 90,000 residents throughout Aberdeen Township, Hazlet, Holmdel, Keansburg, Keyport, Matawan and Union Beach and processes an average of 16 million gallons of raw sewage daily, according to a press release from the two senators.
The authority’s directors will use the federal funding to construct a prefabricated control room to house electrical equipment, develop a power resiliency system to mitigate the damages to the sewerage system and construct an elevated standby power station with three natural gas fired generators to power the BRSA, according to the press release.
“This federal funding will ensure that the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority can make necessary repairs and mitigation upgrades so they can continue serving the residents of Monmouth County,” Menendez said. “Investing in resiliency and mitigation projects will better prepare our state to withstand future storms and prevent the level of damage we saw after Superstorm Sandy.”
“Even before Superstorm Sandy’s devastation, our aging water and wastewater infrastructure needed robust federal investment in order to ensure the health and safety of New Jersey families,” Booker said. “This federal funding will help strengthen New Jersey’s critical infrastructure and make it more resilient in the face of future disasters.”