$3.5 million U.S. grant allows N.J. hires for Sandy cleanup

New Jersey is getting another $3.5 million in federal funding to help hard-hit coastal communities recover from Sandy.

 

The money will be added to a $15 million national emergency grant that was used to place more than 1,100 unemployed residents in temporary cleanup and recovery jobs at parks and other public properties, said state Labor Commissioner Hal Wirths.

Some of the municipalities went on to hire those workers for full-time, permanent jobs, he said. “So it’s a real win-win for both the Sandy effort and the economy.”

The temporary workers helped restore the heavily damaged National Guard Training Center and Museum in Sea Girt and accelerated the cleanup of state parks, Wirths said.

The latest round of funding allows more job seekers to be hired to help with recovery efforts at public sites in Union Beach and other Monmouth County towns and to continue to get state parks back in shape.