The South Monmouth Regional Sewage Authority (SMRSA) is slated to receive a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help pay for the replacement of the Lake Como Water Pump Station that was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. This new funding follows over $1 million previously received by SMRSA for damages to the Authority’s Pitney Avenue Pump Station, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said today.
The grant will provide $2,083,016 in Federal funding to pay for 90 percent of the cost to replace the pump station, allowing it to be permanently relocated from 501 North Boulevard in Lake Como to a new site at 1800 Parkway in Lake Como.
“This pumping station has had a long history of flood damages,” Smith said. “This funding will help move it to a location intended to avoid or minimize future impairments and service disruptions.” The grant award follows a review by FEMA that evaluated potential environmental impacts.
“Sandy damaged critical infrastructure up-and-down the coast,” said Smith, who toured damage throughout Monmouth and other counties in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. “This grant undoes a poor location decision made back in the 1970s.” Superstorm Sandy submerged the pump station in five to six feet of water, shutting it down until a temporary bypass system was set up.
Smith earlier this year took a lead role in obtaining $60 billion in federal disaster relief funding for Superstorm Sandy victims.
At a June meeting in Smith’s Washington Office, Smith personally appealed to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate to approve a 90 percent federal share for FEMA funding going to Jersey towns to pay for cleanup costs—instead of the initially planned 75 percent. Fugate approved the 90 percent ratio several weeks later.
The higher cost ratio will provide the authority with an additional $347,000 for the project.
The South Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority (SMRSA) provides sanitary sewer conveyance and treatment for Monmouth County’s coastal towns of Belmar, Lake Como, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Sea Girt, Manasquan, Brielle, and Wall Township.
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