[CPEO-MEF] Money set for depot cleanup

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

New York
FINGER LAKES TIMES
Money set for depot cleanup
By Brian P. Heffron
November 9, 2003

ROMULUS — Cleanup work needed for development at the Seneca Army Depot
could be expedited by recent legislation.

On Thursday, both houses of Congress approved an amendment by Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat, and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-24 of
New Hartford, to the Military Construction Appropriations Bill. The bill
has been approved by the House and is expected to be passed by the
Senate in the coming days, before it heads to the president for his
signature.

The amendment requires the Army to follow the environmental remediation
and building maintenance requirements of the Base Realignment and
Closure (BRAC) process and “report to the Military Construction
Subcommittees by March 15, 2004, detailing the current status of cleanup
at Seneca Army Depot, and to include a schedule for conveying the
property to the local economic development authority.”

“The significance is that the Army is now asked by Congress to expedite
the cleanup. Hopefully, that will give us some leverage,” said Seneca
County Manager Keith Ashby, adding that the Army had previously said
some work might not occur until 2012.

Ashby said developing the site without the Army cleaning it up would be
much more expensive.

“This base has been handed over in a condition that requires extensive
renovation for development. The infrastructure exponentially
deteriorates every year,” said Ashby, noting the condition of roofs,
pipes and roads is already problematic and local officials are trying to
preserve them so they don’t become totally unusable.

Clinton, who is the first New York senator to be appointed to the Senate
Armed Services Committee, discussed the base cleanup with Ashby in
August in Seneca Falls. Other local government and business leaders also
asked her to work on the issue.

“This is certainly a major win for the cleanup efforts under way at
Seneca Army Base but it is also a major win for Seneca County,” Clinton
wrote in a press release. “The sooner we can clean up the base, the
sooner we fully realize the benefits of this prime site for economic
investment in the Finger Lakes region.”

“I’m grateful for any and all efforts to require the federal government
to live up to their obligations. Between the Army pulling up stakes and
the Canandaigua [Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center], our
region has been socked with federal agencies leaving us,” said Sen.
Michael F. Nozzolio, R-54 of Fayette.

“I’m certainly hopeful that this will send a clear signal to the Army
that they need to be supportive, and to date, they just haven’t been,”
Nozzolio said.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.fltimes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=38&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=2920

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