Moriarty Bill Helps Clean Township Drinking Water

Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday signed into law a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Moriarty that will bring $1.7 million to Gloucester Township and more than $40 million to the 4th Legislative District for clean-water initiatives.

"Improving our infrastructure to ensure that every resident in the state has access to clean, safe drinking water should be a priority in any economy," Moriarty (D-4, Washington Township) said in a statement. "In our current economic climate, projects like these have the added benefit of putting people back to work in addition to providing potable water."

The bill will result in a total of $650 million being spent statewide on clean-water projects through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program, which helps to reduce the per-project financing cost of water cleansing and purification projects throughout the state by up to 30 percent.

The program has financed 931 projects totaling more than $5.6 billion throughout the state since its inception nearly a quarter of a century ago. It has, according to Moriarty's statement, saved borrowers approximately $1.9 billion, generated construction jobs and stimulated significant improvements to the state’s clean water and drinking water infrastructure

Also awarded funds in the 4th Legislative District under the bill are the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority ($40 million) and the Gloucester County Utilities Authority ($240,000).