Funds sought for site clean up

OGDENSBURG — The city plans to continue its search for funds to clean up the former Shade Roller industrial site, which has become a stumbling block for development.

The city will hold a public hearing 7 p.m. Wednesday on a proposed $200,000 grant application for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfield Cleanup program. The city will be responsible for a 20 percent cash match if the grant is awarded.

Although city officials said the costs are subject to change, the grant would include $127,500 to remove the estimated 1,100 tons of contaminated soil, $75,000 for identifying and removing hazardous materials from on-site buildings and $10,000 for ground water monitoring to determine the effectiveness of the waste removal.

The approximately 7.8-acre property, which includes 1,000 feet of St. Lawrence River waterfront, is an important part of the city's waterfront redevelopment plans. But after more than 100 years of housing boat, match and shade-roller manufacturing plants, the site remains polluted with petroleum and asbestos. Since 1991, there have been 11 environmental investigations of the site.

In 2007, after two underground petroleum storage tanks and 4,672 square feet of asbestos containing materials were removed, the city assumed the property through tax foreclosure.

Last year, the city received a $700,000 grant from the state Restore New York program to do asbestos abatement and demolish the abandoned structures on the property. The state put a similar grant application for clean

up from the Environmental Restoration Program on hold after all the program's funds had been allocated, state Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Stephen W. Litwhiler, said.

City officials have little hope for additional state money, so they decided to apply to the federal program, city Planning and Economic Director J. Justin Woods said.

"It's about $1.5 million to take all the buildings down," he said. "When it got the Restore New York grant, the city pledged $300,000 as a match. If we get this $200,000, that puts us at $1.2 million, so we're getting very close to where we need to be."