newjerseynewsroom.com

Residents of Newark's Ironbound neighborhood will be able to identify and fight local pollution problems thanks to a new federal grant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $100,000 to the non-profit Ironbound Community Corp. to examine the cumulative impacts of multiple pollution sources in the area.

The neighborhood becomes the latest community added to EPA's five-year-old Community Action for a Renewed Environment program. The program expects to disburse $2.2 million in grants to help locales around the nation investigate and reduce toxic pollution.

The money "will be an important step toward improving the environmental quality and public health in the Ironbound," Joseph Fave, ICC executive director, said in a statement.

The densely populated neighborhood has provided a home to former and current chemical plants, waste industries and emissions from cars and trucks, ships and planes. The CARE program is structured to link residents and businesses with academic and government support to gather information about the nature and location of contamination.

In awarding the grant, the EPA noted that 75 percent of the Ironbound's 50,000-plus residents speak a foreign language, and more than half of those 18 and older lack a high school diploma.

The project will make information available in multiple languages, and conduct community workshops to share experiences and plan actions on priority issues. The goal is to build consensus to "bring some relief to people in the places they live, work and play," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck.

For more information, visit EPA's website at: http://www.epa.gov/CARE

— JOE TYRRELL, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM