Overall, $254.5 million will be distributed to 265 communities nationwide. In New Jersey, the funding from the Brownfields Grants will go to four state applicants.

LCP Chemical ceased operations at the 26-acre site in 1985.

Pollution of the waterway stems back to Diamond Alkali, a former chemical plant and now a Superfund site based in the Ironbound section of Newark. Officials estimate the project's price tag to sit around $441 million, but that could climb much higher. All of it would be paid for by the private companies that are legally responsible for the pollution.

The state’s support is a vital first step toward making it available for federal funding and creating the legal standing to hold property owners - like those that polluted the river - financially responsible for clean-up costs.