Edison & Woodbridge Score Big Clean Communities $$$

and Edison were two Middlesex County townships who picked up some major bucks to help keep down the litter and graffiti.

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that both townships were among those awarded the largest amount of money in Clean Communities grants to clean up roadways and streets.

Out of the $13.86 million given to 559 eligible municipalities, Woodbridge received $131,533 while Edison obtained $134,350. 

Clean Communities grant money is funded through a user fee on garbage-generating manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. The money awarded to municipalities is based on the number of housing units and the number of municipally-owned roadways in the town.

The state's 21 counties also received $1.73 million in grant money, based upon the number of miles of county-owned roadways.

Among the activities funded by the grants, DEP said in a statement, are volunteer cleanups of public properties, adoption and enforcement of local anti-littering ordinances, beach cleanups, public information and education programs, purchases of equipment used to collect litter, purchases of litter receptacles and recycling bins, purchases of anti-litter signs, purchases of supplies to remove graffiti, and cleanups of stormwater systems that can disperse trash into streams, rivers and bays.