Polluters pick up tab for restoration of threatened cedar

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

WOODLAND TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey plans to restore vast tracts of a coastal tree species threatened by climate change and will pay for it with money from polluters of groundwater. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection says its plan to restore 10,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar is the largest restoration involving the species in U.S. history. The $20 million project will span 10 years. It will be paid for from court settlements with manufacturers and distributors of a now-banned gasoline additive that has polluted ground water throughout the U.S. Stands of dead cedars haunt New Jersey and other spots along the Atlantic coast.