The city of Utica will receive $4.3 million in federal funding and the Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) $500,000 toward the assessment, clean up and redevelopment of brownfield sites, U.S. senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced June 24.
Utica received nearly $3.9 million for the cleanup of the Mele Manufacturing site on Erie Street.
The city further received a $500,000 assessment grant to inventory and prioritize sites within the city’s Brownfield Opportunity Area, a 975-acre area just north of downtown with many abandoned or underutilized industrial properties, and 46 potential brownfield sites., according to the statement.
The money will cover 10 Phase 1 and four Phase II environmental assessments, the development of four cleanup plans and community engagement activities, moving the sites closer to potential redevelopment.
“Over decades, much of what holds back Utica from business and economic development has been nearly unsolvable problems and boring work that doesn’t really lead to short term ribbon cutting,” Utica Mayor Michael Galime said in a statement. “These grant awards are the result of two years of dedicated work to identify brownfields that are both marketable and held back by uncertainty, and a team of people working in my administration that assembled the justification for these awards.”
Herkimer County grant
The Herkimer County grant will focus on the Little Falls Brownfield Opportunity Area and the Town of Herkimer downtown area.
The funds will be used to inventory and priority sites, conduct three Phase 1 and five Phase II environmental site assessments, develop two cleanup plans and support community engagement.
The focus areas include a 55,000-square-foot former textile mill, a 25-acre former industrial park along the Mohawk River and a 1-acre abandoned parcel once used to store aboveground fuel storage tanks.
More on the grants
The Utica and Herkimer County grants are part of a total of $248 million awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program to 190 communities. In New York, 13 communities will receive $14 million in brownfields funding.
Funding for the program was allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Law.
“From Utica in the Mohawk Valley to Western New York and beyond, New York has had too many toxic eyesores and contaminated sites from our industrial past that drive down property values and put public health at risk,” Schumer said in a statement. “I’m proud to announce that thanks to $14 million in federal investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law I led to passage in the Senate, we can accelerate the cleanup and reuse of New York’s contaminated eyesores.”
Utica brownfields
The 5.3-acre Mele Manufacturing site in Utica was used from 1899 until 2004 to manufacture knitting goods, jewelry boxes and plastic flooring, and to store coal. The property’s soil and groundwater are contaminated with volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and metal contaminants. The funding will cover a comprehensive cleanup as well as eight public meetings and the development of a project webpage.
Utica’s Brownfield Opportunity Area, which contains 1,086 parcels, lies between the New York State Thruway to the north, the city limits to the east and west, and Catherine and Oriskany streets to the south. It has been divided into four sub-areas:
A significant portion of the Harbor District, though, has been pulled out of the opportunity area because its environmental issues have already been addressed and a redevelopment plan for the area is being implemented.
Many of the properties are underutilized and nearly 34% of the land within the area — or about 330 acres — is vacant.
The opportunity area also includes 46 potential brownfield sites covering just over 190 acres. Those sites have potential hazards such as petroleum or diesel spills; gas tanks; soil and groundwater contamination from volatile organic compounds, PCB and metals; and possibly asbestos and/or lead paint in buildings.
The city’s vision for the rest of the area is for mixed uses to support a strong employment base and a more sustainable economy, according to the city’s Brownfield Opportunity Area nomination study. That vision sees Oriskany Street transformed from a car-centric, underutilized area to “one of the city’s most appealing gateways for motorists and pedestrians.”
The goal for Bagg’s Square is the creation of an historic district with a sustainable mix of entertainment, hospitality, retail residential and office uses. A private developer has proposed a hotel/mixed-use building along its western block that would connect to the NEXUS Center, the study noted.
The study suggested potential development plans for Broad Street, including the expansion of Casa Imports; the development of pedestrian green space and an industrial park; the potential reuse of underutilized buildings for residential and/or light industrial purposes; and infill development.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Utica, Herkimer County IDA awarded federal brownfields grants
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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By Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
