HOUSE OK’S $5 MILLION FOR GREEN BROOK

WASHINGTON – The House late Wednesday overwhelmingly approved legislation that includes a request by Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., for $5 million to continue construction for the Green brook Flood Control Project.

The House approved, 404-20, the underlying $24.4 billion spending bill that finances U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ projects on waterways, dams and flood control nationwide. The bill, which also finances the Energy Department and the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal, now moves to the Senate.

The House action follows last week’s key vote in the House Appropriations Committee, which included the Green Brook funding despite the fact that it had not been included in the Army Corps’ budget request earlier this year. Without Congress approving funding this year, the Green Brook project – nearly five years after construction began and Congress approved $39 million – could be stopped.

“Continued funding for the Green Brook project is critical to protecting the families and businesses that could be devastated by more flooding,” Ferguson said after the vote. “We’ve made too much progress on the project to stop, and I will continue to be a strong advocate in Congress for the funding we need to ensure the project is completed.”

According to the Army Corps, the funding approved by the House would be used for the next phase of the project – elevating the bridge at Talmage Avenue and East Main Street. The Green Brook project is the nation’s largest flood control initiative outside of the Mississippi River region.

Ferguson said that even with House vote, funding for the project is not guaranteed. For adequate Green Brook funding to emerge from the House-Senate conference, where differences in each chamber’s bills are resolved, the Senate must include funding in its version of the bill spending bill.

The project’s ultimate goal is to protect residents and businesses in the 65-square-mile flood basin that covers 14 communities in Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties. To date, bridges have been raised, pumping stations established and levees built.