The New Cassel Environmental Justice Project (NCEJP), the grassroots organization initiated in 1995, is forging ahead in its efforts to educate the public about environmental hazards in the community, thanks to a recently announced $10,000 grant.

The group has been awarded the funding from the Long Island Universalist Unitarian Fund, which has supported the organization in the past, according to NCEJP President Mildred Little.

"The Environmental Justice Project began its work in 1995, under the sponsorship of the Long Island Neighborhood Network and its Director, Neil Lewis," stated Little in a press release announcing the grant this week. "This grant will greatly assist the NCEJP in its commitment to the education of residents of the New Cassel and Salisbury communities, and the continuation and expansion of its Environmental Education Programs in the Westbury Schools," she added. "We depend upon grants and donations for funding, and we owe our continued success to the team of volunteers who work with NCEJP to achieve our goals." The grant is for Year 2001 operations, Little noted.

NCEJP was formed by local citizens who were concerned about the environmental and health issues associated with the New Cassel Industrial Area (NCIA). The NCIA contains more than 140 businesses on 170 acres of property between Old Country Road and School Street, including several parcels which have been declared state hazardous waste sites. It is surrounded by the residential neighborhoods of New Cassel and Salisbury. When NCEJP began, there were 17 hazardous waste sites within the industrial park. Due in part to the consistent urging of the group, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has overseen the cleanup of several of the sites. Today, 13 sites remain listed on New York State's Superfund registry, and according to the DEC, pose a significant threat to the public's health or environment. Those sites are the subject of ongoing investigation and remediation efforts.

The NCEJP works to monitor and assist in the efforts of the DEC and the State Department of Health, and to inform the public of the work being done to clean up the Superfund sites, through community meetings and newsletters, including multi-lingual outreach programs. The group hosts DEC presentations twice a year, to ensure regular cleanup progress reports from the agency. "We're like a monitor, a watchdog - things that they don't see, we see, because we're here in the community," Little said during an interview last week at NCEJP's headquarters on Prospect Avenue. She added that community outreach is key to the organization's efforts. "We have people here who don't know the seriousness of living near a hazardous site," she said. "So many people here have cancer. Why?"

NCEJP works to educate residents about the health risks associated with living nearby a hazardous area where dumping and spills have occurred, and from which chemicals are emitted into the air daily. In addition to pushing for more prompt cleanup of the Superfund sites, NCEJP works to eradicate other hazards in the industrial park, such as overflowing junk piles and emissions.

In addition, NCEJP's headquarters serves as an information repository for DEC documents concerning site investigations and cleanups; residents can visit the office to research the issue. As pollution from the hazardous waste sites raises concerns about water contamination, the group works with the Westbury and Bowling Green Water Districts to ensure water quality.

NCEJP has a large Environmental Education Program in Westbury Public Schools and St. Brigid's Catholic School in Westbury. This is done through poster and essay contests, activity and coloring books, guest speakers, teachers' seminars, field trips and special events. For example, this year, the organization will host an "Environmental Day" sponsored by a Community Development Agency block grant. This educational event grew out of a community-wide environmental day conducted outside NCEJP's office on Prospect Avenue last June. Among other events organized by the NCEJP was a Breast Cancer Awareness Day in June, 1998.

According to Little, NCEJP board members are community leaders from New Cassel and Salisbury who have worked together on common issues in the past, such as closing a nearby incinerator and a noisy automobile shredder. Little noted that the organization looks toward continued community participation and successful outreach programs as the year 2001 progresses.