Region 2 EJ Showcase Community: Staten Island, NY

Grants & Programs Topics

EJ Showcase Communities by Region

Overview
Successes
History

Overview

EPA Region 2 is working with the North Shore of Staten Island, a former industrial community that contains abandoned, contaminated, and regulated properties along the waterfront, because the neighborhood has seen an increase in the number of kids with elevated lead levels in their blood. EPA, in consultation with key community members, state and local health agencies, is developing a community-based health strategy for the area.

Successes

Investigated and resolved concerns associated with 21 sites identified by the community.
Supported a kickoff meeting held by local organizations.
Provided regulatory and technical support and leveraged state and local governmental support for the formation of a local coalition comprised of 30 groups
Providing significant resources to support projects selected by the new coalition.

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History

Map showing the North Shore of Staten Island

EPA has been working closely with the North Shore of Staten Island, a former industrial community that contains many abandoned, contaminated, and regulated properties along the waterfront. EPA, in consultation with key community members and state and local environmental and public health agencies, is seeking to develop a community-based environmental health strategy for the area.

To date, Region 2 has launched a comprehensive, multi-program strategy to investigate local environmental concerns. Among activities undertaken include:

Establishing a Regional Task Force to respond to potential environmental concerns related to 21 sites of interest, as identified by a local EJ community organization;
Conducting a regional compliance initiative to evaluate children’s potential exposure to pesticides from indoor and/or outdoor pesticide applications at child care facilities;
Supporting the formation of a local coalition - comprised of environmental groups, EJ, civic, and tenant associations - in the North Shore area, which will be instrumental in the further prioritization of local environmental and public health concerns and serve to attract additional resources and build partnerships among public and private institutions.

In addition, EPA Region 2 continues to leverage, where appropriate, the support and assistance of government, business, and community organizations involved in local brownfields redevelopment projects within the north shore, including the 107-acre Mariners Marsh property, Richmond Terrace/Kill Van Kull waterfront, and the Port Richmond Brownfield Opportunity Area.

For the remainder of the showcase project, Region 2 will secure a broad-based technical assistance contract to offer a range of services to support efforts involving the local coalition and potential project partners.

These services may include the development and implementation of:

a community outreach campaign;
a community-based environmental health training program, including educational materials;
the interpretation of existing environmental and public health data in a manner community members can understand; and
the solicitation of other governmental and nongovernmental entities to join the EJ Showcase Community project.

For more information or to become involved, please contact Terry Wesley (wesley.terry@epa.gov), EPA Region 2, at 212-637-5027.