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EPA Gives New York Communities a Boost with Brownfields Grants

Release Date: 05/12/2006
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(NEW YORK, NY) EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg today presented a check for $200,000 to the City of Albany as a part of $3 million dollars in brownfields grants to nine communities in New York that will help restore and revitalize sites in the state. The City of Albany will be able to use the grant funds to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfields sites in the area.

“EPA is continuing to build on decades of environmental growth and economic gains,” said Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. “Brownfields grants help communities turn problem properties into community assets, putting both people and property back to work.”

The brownfields program enables EPA to provide communities the tools they need to address these sites, including sites impacted by petroleum that present relatively low risks to people’s health. Four competitive grants programs provide funding to eligible applicants for brownfields assessments, cleanups, revolving loan funds, and job training. In addition to industrial and commercial redevelopment, brownfields assistance has led to the conversion of industrial waterfronts to riverfront parks, landfills to golf courses, rail corridors to recreational trails, and gas stations to housing.

EPA is awarding assessment and cleanup grants to the following communities in New York:

Niagara County will receive $200,000 to find and assess local brownfields sites impacted by petroleum contamination.

The City of Lackawanna will receive two grants totaling $400,000 to assess local sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum.

The City of New York will receive three grants totaling $600,000 to assess sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum as well as clean up coal tar residue, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, cyanide, and metals at the 107-acre Mariners Marsh site on Staten Island.

The City of Rochester will receive three grants totaling $600,000 to assess contamination from hazardous substances and clean up soil and groundwater at the Davidson Collision site and the former Caribbean Service Center.

The City of Cohoes will receive two grants totaling $400,000 to assess sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum in the area.

The Town of Fort Edward will receive a $200,000 grant to find and assess local brownfields sites impacted by petroleum contamination.

The Town of Clayton will receive $200,000 to develop a work plan, perform community outreach, and remove contaminated soil from the former Frink America property.

The Glen Cove Industrial Development Agency will receive $200,000 to help a clean up the Doxey site, a former fuel storage facility that also has been used as a salvage yard and unauthorized transfer station.

To date, EPA has awarded nationally 883 assessment grants totaling $225.4 million, 202 revolving loan fund grants totaling $186.7 million, and 238 cleanup grants totaling $42.7 million. EPA’s brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $8.2 billion in private investment, helped create 37,525 and resulted in the assessments of 8,374 properties, and the cleanup of 93 properties.

For more information, please visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields

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