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WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08) today announced that the House of Representatives voted to approve the final Energy and Water Appropriations bill that includes $314,000 to continue the Peckman River Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project in Little Falls. While the funding amount has been decided, the bill now moves to the U.S. Senate and will be later signed by the president.
“The federal government continues to show its commitment to this project,” said Pascrell, who secured more than $500,000 earlier this year for the effort. “I look forward to the start of the next phase of the project, which will be the preconstruction that will help protect the homes near the Peckman River.”
Little Falls Mayor Michael DeFrancisci said he was pleased by the funding.
“We’re happy to get anything we can for this project to move it along,” said DeFrancisci. “The congressman has been pushing the project in Washington and we’re appreciative of his efforts.”
Pascrell began pursuing a comprehensive federal investment to mitigate flood damages in the Peckman River Basin following the tragic death of a Little Falls resident and extensive damages left in the wake of Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Securing $100,000 in Congress to initiate a reconnaissance study of the region, Pascrell engaged the Army Corps of Engineers which ultimately determined a need for the continued use of federal resources to restore the basin.
Completion of a favorable reconnaissance study moved the project out of its first phase and opened the door for the Army Corps to begin planning for ecosystem restoration and flood mitigation. Determined to fund the new Army Corps project, Pascrell has steered approximately $2.5 million in funding to the Peckman River Basin since 2000. In 2002, USACE executed a cost sharing agreement with the NJDEP.
Currently the project is in its second phase, the feasibility study. To date, a topographical survey, environmental baseline study and analysis of hydrology and hydraulics have been completed as part of phase two. Once the feasibility study is completed, the project will advance to its third phase; preconstruction, engineering and design.
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