[CPEO-BIF] "Long Island [NY] cleanup funds mired in bureaucracy"

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Long Island cleanup funds mired in bureaucracy

BY JODY KASS AND MATHY STANISLAUS
Long Island Newsday (NY)
August 27, 2007


It has been nearly four years since New York State passed its historic 
brownfield law, designed to promote the cleanup and reuse of 
contaminated properties. Its effectiveness on Long Island is the topic 
of a state legislative hearing today at the Cold Spring Harbor Library.

According to reports from Gov. Eliot Spitzer's office, more than $1 
billion in refundable brownfield tax credits soon will be given out to 
developers who cleaned up brownfield sites around the state. But because 
no local sites are among the first 50 to get cleaned up, not one nickel 
is slated for Long Island.

But even if the law hasn't yet produced the results Long Island needs, 
it's fair to ask if it provides a framework that will eventually get 
brownfield sites cleaned up and back into productive use in a way that 
achieves regional growth goals. Unfortunately, the answer is no.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, of the 
239 sites accepted into the Brownfield Cleanup Program in the last four 
years, only nine are on Long Island. And of the 39 sites rejected 
statewide, six were on Long Island.

...

For the entire column, see
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opxxx5348006aug27,0,6385895,full.story

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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