The Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is looking at the potential of unlocking contaminated sites in the county with the help of a half-million-dollar federal grant.
The agency is among 13 New York recipients of the brownfield grants meted out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May. In total, the federal agency allocated $233 million to 180 communities across the country to identify and remedy contaminated sites this year.
Commonly known as brownfields, these sites often contain hazardous elements, pollutants, and contaminants derived from their former uses and cannot be redeveloped into new enterprises until a proper—and sometimes expensive—cleanup is completed.
Orange County IDA Executive Director Bill Fioravanti told The Epoch Times that the assessment grant will help his agency locate, prioritize, and devise cleanup plans for brownfields across the county over the next two years.
Though the grant only covers research and planning activities, it does open the doors to future funding from the EPA for cleanup work, he said.
“We are looking at a number of sites in Port Jervis, a city that oftentimes has been neglected and doesn’t get the attention that it deserves, especially given its great potential,” Mr. Fioravanti said, noting the city’s recent win of a $10 million downtown revitalization state grant.
A 100-plus-acre site in the town of Woodbury, once home to a former Nepera Chemical Company plant, looks like another candidate.
“That is a very dirty site with tremendous potential, being a mile from Woodbury Common Premium Outlets and routes 86 and 87,” Mr. Fioravanti said.
Camp LaGuardia, a county-owned abandoned site that was home to a major New York City homeless shelter and holds potential for a future park, might also be assessed for its asbestos hazards to make way for cleanup and redevelopment, he added.
The IDA will hire a consultant to carry out the brownfield assessment project.
“The idea is for us to uncover developable properties around the county, whether they are green fields, urban infill opportunities, etc., and one of the areas that I will say that we weren’t focused on but was on our radar screen was contaminated properties,” he said.
“These sites are kind of like hidden gems. Because they may have everything else that makes this site desirable—location, access to municipal water and sewer, etc.—but developers are scared off by them [because of the hazardous contamination].”
