For Release: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Poughkeepsie and Corning Sites Among First New Brownfield Cleanups
Recent Brownfield Law Revisions Will Help Spur Upstate Development
Abandoned industrial parcels in Poughkeepsie and Corning are the first sites approved under the state's revamped Brownfields Cleanup Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today.
"It is fitting that the first sites to be reclaimed under the new law are located Upstate, where local officials, business and environmental groups expressed strong support for a better Brownfields program - one that would steer cleanup money where it's most needed," Commissioner Grannis said. "The Poughkeepsie and Corning projects will have positive economic and environmental impacts on their communities."
A brownfield is a contaminated property where the presence of pollution has impeded redevelopment. Many such sites are abandoned throughout the state and contribute to urban blight. The new Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) signed into law by Governor Paterson in July includes better incentives for cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites. The original BCP was designed to work with the private developers and did not foster the level of redevelopment needed in struggling areas. Instead, the program often provided additional financial incentives for projects in places where real estate markets continued to prosper. In addition, large windfalls in the form of tax credits were provided to developers because the credits were based on the amount invested by a developer on redevelopment, and had an insufficient relation to the investment made in remediation.
The newly-enacted reforms protect the integrity of the program by capping redevelopment credits while providing better incentives for cleanup by:
- Increasing the tax credits available for site cleanup; sites now eligible for 22 to 50 percent of the total cost of remediation, based on the level of cleanup.
- Offering generous redevelopment credits for non-manufacturing projects but at a limit of $35 million or three times the cost of site cleanup, whichever is less.
- Offering generous redevelopment credits for manufacturing projects but at a limit of $45 million or six times the cost of site remediation, whichever is less.
- Allowing a new tax credit bonus equal to two percent of redevelopment costs for projects consistent with Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) planning. BOAs are neighborhoods designated by the Department of State as having met specific community-based revitalization criteria.
The parties performing the cleanup have signed a Brownfield Cleanup Agreement with DEC - a requirement for those participating in the BCP. The agreement commits the parties to the provisions of the new law as they undertake certain investigation or cleanup activities under DEC's oversight and with Department of Health input.
Summaries of the projects are below. Additional information about the sites can be found in the DEC's environmental site remediation database as the investigation and cleanup activities move forward.
Tioga Avenue Site
213, 219 and 239 Tioga Avenue, City of Corning, Steuben County
This 14-acre site is a vacant parcel located in an industrial, commercial and residential area. Corning Inc. operated the Fall Brook glass manufacturing facility at the site from 1930-2002. The Fall Brook Railway Company operated at the site for the previous 70 years. A July 2007 environmental site assessment indicated the likely presence of volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, arsenic and petroleum contamination in the site's soil and groundwater as a result of the site's historic operations.
Corning Property Management Corporation will conduct the investigation and cleanup, with oversight by DEC, and anticipates developing the site for commercial and industrial uses.
PURA-14 Site
Pine Street, City of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County
This 5.5-acre site is located in an urban commercial, industrial, residential, and recreational community. It is located at the intersection of Rinaldi Boulevard and Pine Street, near the Hudson River. Until the 1960s, it was home to the Moline plow company, an artillery shell manufacturer, and a chemical fertilizer manufacturer, but is currently vacant with overgrown vegetation and no existing buildings. The city had conducted an investigation into the site as part of a grant received under DEC's Environmental Restoration Program, which works with municipalities. It found elevated levels of PAHs in surface and subsurface soils and elevated concentrations of metals in the surface soils. Groundwater has not been impacted to date.
Poughkeepsie Waterfront Development LLC, will be implementing the cleanup plan with DEC oversight. The future use of the site is anticipated as a mixture of commercial and restricted residential uses.
