New State Fund Will Help Clean Up Toxic Sites In Hudson Valley

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Three notoriously contaminated sites in the Hudson Valley will have a chance to be restored and redeveloped, thanks in part to a new infusion of money from the state.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday that $2.4 million in grants would be given to five municipalities statewide to clean up six contaminated sites targeted for redevelopment. Bedford, Newburgh, Syracuse, Rome and Fulton will each receive funds from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Environmental Restoration Program, which helps local governments to clean up sites with historic contamination and put the properties back into use.

"My administration is committed to the continued pursuit of environmental and economic restoration in every corner of our state," Hochul said. "I grew up near a steel plant that turned Lake Erie into a dumping ground for toxic waste and I know first-hand the power and potential of cleanup projects like these ones to turn a community around. These projects will breathe new life into communities that have been too long ignored by transforming contaminated and unusable sites into engines of economic productivity."

Hudson Valley projects receiving funding as part of the latest round of ERP grants include:

Town of Bedford: $386,911

The Crusher Rd. site has been the location of the Town of Bedford's Department of Public Works for over 50 years. The funds will be used to implement the DEC's cleanup plan regarding soil and groundwater contaminated by VOCs, specifically tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and its associated degradation products (trichloroethene, dichloroethane and vinyl chloride).

City of Newburgh: $73,064

The 7-11 Johnes St. site is a former dry cleaning business where petroleum was stored underground. The business opened in 1954 and operated for about 40 years before Newburgh seized the property for back taxes. The grant will be used to fund the DEC's cleanup plan that addresses soil and groundwater contaminated by VOCs, SVOCs, lead and mercury.

City of Newburgh: $120,212

The 350-352 Liberty St. site is a former gasoline station that operated from 1954 until the mid-1980s. The site contained several USTs and one aboveground storage tank. The funds will be used to implement the DEC's cleanup plan regarding soil and groundwater contaminated by VOCs, SVOCs, arsenic, lead, and mercury.

The Environmental Restoration Program (ERP) was created in 1996 and provides funding to reimburse eligible costs at municipally owned brownfield properties to aid in their redevelopment. The NYS DEC oversees ERP cleanups, with 140 sites completed since the program was started. The grants are funded mainly through NYS's Hazardous Waste Cleanup Account where up to $10 million is used annually to investigate and clean up ERP sites in communities statewide. All five municipalities will enter into funding agreements with the DEC, with each municipality responsible for 10 percent of the project costs.

"Our Environmental Restoration Program is one of several successful resources New York State employs to incentivize the investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites across the state so that communities can put these properties back into productive reuse and address potential health and environmental risks," Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said. "Both with the critical enhancements made during the budget to the Brownfield Cleanup Program and today's ERP announcement for these six communities, Governor Hochul continues to help revitalize neighborhoods and build stronger, healthier communities."

In addition to publicly funded cleanup work undertaken by municipalities through the ERP, the Fiscal Year 2023 Enacted State Budget extended and expanded NYS's Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP), which helps drive private investment in redeveloping contaminated sites. The budget reauthorized the program for 10 more years and improves the BCP by incentivizing cleanups in disadvantaged communities.

More information about the ERP, BCP and other DEC cleanup programs, can be found here.