- Archives

A state environmental law passed in 2003 to help clean up polluted industrial sites known as brownfields sets aside $15 million a year for the most heavily contaminated neighborhoods in New York State. But not one dollar has yet been spent, because Gov. George E. Pataki and the leaders of the State Legislature have failed to sign a memorandum of understanding outlining how the money should be divided up. The last two state budgets have included $15 million each year for programs in these neighborhoods, and the governor's new budget proposal calls for another $15 million. But Republicans in the Senate took steps this week to eliminate the latest appropriation until the $30 million backlog is spent. Because of the impasse, residents of the polluted neighborhoods that applied for grants say they have not be able to advance their plans to clean up old junkyards, gas stations and other sites that are not polluted enough to be put on the Superfund list of the worst toxic sites but cannot be built on unless they are decontaminated. "The state gives the impression that it supports community-based efforts to clean up these areas, but it is undermining us by not making money available on time," said Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, executive director of the United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park, which is awaiting an $80,000 planning grant for brownfield sites on the Brooklyn waterfront near Sunset Park and in surrounding areas. [more]