EPA Provides $1.4 Million to Communities in Upstate New York to Support Assessments, Cleanups and Revitalization of Contaminated Properties

EPA Press Release:

EPA Provides $1.4 Million to Communities in Upstate New York to Support Assessments, Cleanups and Revitalization of Contaminated Properties

Contact: John Martin, (212) 637-3662, martin.johnj@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – May 8, 2013) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing nearly $1.4 million to Fort Edward, Glens Falls, Ithaca, Rensselaer, and Rochester, New York to help those communities clean up abandoned and contaminated sites. The funding was awarded through EPA’s Brownfields Program, which helps communities assess, clean up, redevelop, and reuse contaminated properties. Brownfields are properties where moderate contamination threatens environmental quality and public health and can interfere with productive re-use of the sites.

“Cleaning up brownfields sites protects people’s health and the environment, revitalizes neighborhoods and create jobs,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Brownfields cleanups and the reuse of formerly contaminated properties improve the lives of those who live and work in these communities.”

"Brownfields redevelopment is an important program for New York State environmental and economic goals," NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said. "We welcome the federal participation in this program, in partnership with State and local governments and private developers."

The EPA’s Brownfields funding will be awarded communities in Upstate New York as follows:

Town of Fort Edward – $200,000 
• Clean up the former Grand Union site at 354 Broadway. The site, a former grocery store, was also once used as a gravel pit and capacitor recycling facility. Soils at the site are contaminated with PCBs. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach.

Glens Falls, NY – $600,000
$450,275 to assess sites that may be contaminated with hazardous substances
$149,725 to assess sites that may be contaminated with petroleum
• Fifty initial and eight follow-up environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community involvement activities and cleanup planning for 12 sites. The project targets properties located along a 60-mile stretch of the upper Hudson River. Coalition partners are the Towns of Chester, Corinth, and Hadley, and the Villages of Hudson Falls, South Glens Falls, and Whitehall. Grant funds will also be used to support community outreach.

Ithaca, NY – $200,000
• Clean up the Ithaca Falls Overlook site located at 125 Lake Street. The 0.95-acre site is part of a former industrial property where firearms and munitions were manufactured from 1885 to 1986. The site is contaminated with metals. Grant funds will also be used to support community outreach.

Rensselaer, NY – $200,000
• Clean up the Hollow site, located on Third Street. The site is an undeveloped and under-used parcel that was used as a firing range from 1894 to 1938. It is contaminated with metals. Grant funds will also be used to support community outreach.

Rochester, NY – $200,000
• Clean up 937-941 Genesee Street in the Brooks Landing Redevelopment Project area. The site was used as an auto repair facility and a dry cleaning operation. Soil and ground water at the site are contaminated with petroleum products. Grant funds will also be used to conduct community outreach.

The EPA has announced a total of more than $62.5 million in new investments across the country that will redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and help create jobs while protecting public health.

Since its inception, EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $19 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have created approximately 87,000 jobs. The 240 grantees receiving grants through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grants programs include tribes and communities in 45 states across the country.

Information on grant recipients can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

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