Yonkers receives brownfield cleanup funds

Contaminated building lots on Lawrence Street in Yonkers should benefit from a $200,000 federal grant to clean them.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced April 25 a federal grant worth $200,000 will go to Groundwork Hudson Valley to plan for the cleanup and reuse of the now-abandoned brownfields. The federal money comes through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency”™s brownfields area-wide planning program.

“Yonkers is bursting with potential for economic growth,” said Gillibrand, a member of the Senate environment and public works committee. “With smart investments like this, we can attract new businesses and create new jobs, and transform more parts of our communities into places for New Yorkers to live, work and raise a family, and help our economy thrive.”

Yonkers-based Groundwork Hudson Valley, which operates the river”™s Science Barge among other environmental efforts, will use the $200,000 federal grant to support a project to revitalize the Lawrence Street neighborhood vacant brownfield properties. Groundwork Hudson Valley is partnering with the city of Yonkers, Westchester County, the New York City Department of Transportation, the National Park Service and  local supporters in the effort.

Last September, Gillibrand introduced the Waterfront Brownfields Revitalization Act to award similar grants to local government and nonprofit organizations that redevelop abandoned, idled or underused industrial properties on waterfronts.