U.S.
Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide $200,000 in grants to the
city of Rochester
for cleanup activities at brownfields sites owned by the city.
“Investing in these types of grant programs is smart in the
short and long term,” said Schumer. “This program will help up the brownfields
sites in Rochester
where expansion and development have been delayed due to the hazardous
substances and contaminants in the area. Cleaning up the sites will help create
jobs and provide the opportunity for economic expansion.”
“This is a great investment for the Rochester community,” said Senator
Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
“Revitalizing brownfields is a big part of our economic recovery – supporting
job creation and laying the foundation to attract new growth for the area. I
will continue working with Senator Schumer and the entire New York Delegation
to make sure New York
gets it fair share from the federal government.”
Brownfields are
real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance,
pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties
takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves
and protects the environment.
The EPA will provide $200,000 to Rochester for Cleanup grants for conducting
cleanup activities at brownfields sites owned by grant selectees.
The grants will help communities clean up brownfields where
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act
was passed and expanded the definition of what is considered a brownfields site
so that communities may now also address mine-scarred lands, sites contaminated
by petroleum, or sites contaminated by the manufacture and distribution of
illegal drugs. The Brownfields program encourages development of America’s
estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.