Protect Earth News

February 7, 2023

The Ocean Wind Pro-NJ Grantor Trust will award $3.9 million to seven municipalities in Cape May, Atlantic and Ocean counties in support of coastal infrastructure and resiliency projects to combat tidal flooding and erosion issues that negatively impact residents’ public health and safety. That’s up from the original projection of $3.5.

In addition to providing funding for coastal resiliency projects, the trust offers small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses support in reconfiguring or adapting their businesses to participate in the developing offshore wind industry, with the goal of ensuring that the offshore wind industry in New Jersey is developed in a sustainable and inclusive way.

Grant recipients and funded projects, several of which are also receiving funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are :

• Borough of Avalon: $600,000 to construct a stormwater collection system within a drainage area near Avalon Avenue, between 14^th Street and 8^th Street;
• Township of Little Egg Harbor: $719,250 to support resiliency improvements along several waterfront streets off of Great Bay Boulevard, include the bulkheading of Daddy Tucker Drive, installation of new storm drainage infrastructure and tidal valves, and the reconstruction of roadways to elevate them above flood levels;
• Borough of Longport: $368,750 to replace and upgrade stormwater piping along Winchester Avenue and sections of 34^th Avenue, in addition to replacing pumping equipment and the construction of a new pumping station by 31^st Avenue and the bay;
• City of Margate: $446,880 to construct a new, submersible stormwater pump station near the intersection of Adams Avenue and Amherst Avenue, and to construct a sewer interconnection from Washington Avenue to the underground vault;
• City of North Wildwood: $507,600 to support a flood mitigation infrastructure project located at the bay front public park along Beach Creek and 4^th and 5^th avenues;
• City of Ventnor: $546,003 to replace 500 linear feet of failing bulkhead that protects a residential area and water infrastructure under Winchester Avenue and reconstruct the roadway, including sidewalk and curbing replacement;
• City of Wildwood: $678,015 to build upon a FEMA-funded pump station, completed in 2020, with the addition of three elements, including: a living shoreline along Mediterranean Avenue and West Andrews Avenue; the replacement and supplementation of failing bulkheads with vinyl bulkheads at several points along Otten’s Harbor; and the replacement of a crushed drainage pipe in the vicinity of the project.

The trust is a $15 million fund established by Ocean Wind 1 following its selection by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in June 2019 as New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm.

All seven projects have expected completion dates on or before May 2025, according to a press release.