Grant Heralds Final Phase of Waterfront Cleanup

The City of Glen Cove announced Thursday that the final phase of environmental clean-up at the City’s waterfront, the last 1.5 percent of a three decade, multi-jurisdictional effort, will begin thanks to $815,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

The funds will support the clean-up of the Doxey site in Glen Cove, which is the final brownfield site in Glen Cove’s Waterfront Redevelopment Area.

This grant was the second highest award made in the United States in this funding round, in recognition of the importance of completing Glen Cove’s waterfront clean-up and advancing the waterfront redevelopment. Federal funding was awarded by the EPA’s Brownfields Program, which helps communities assess, clean up, redevelop and reuse contaminated properties.

“The City and the Glen Cove Industrial Development Agency are grateful to the EPA for awarding these federal funds, allowing us to complete the remediation of the final property in the Waterfront Redevelopment Area,” said Ralph Suozzi, Mayor of the City of Glen Cove. “Without the support of our elected officials, and our partners at federal and state agencies and at Nassau County, we would not have achieved this great milestone.”

The USEPA made the $815,000 award to the Glen Cove Industrial Development Agency (IDA) through the Nassau County Brownfield Revolving Loan Program; work on the milestone cleanup can begin once Nassau County authorizes the IDA to begin using the funds.

The Mayor continued, “I would also like to thank Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for her leadership on the environmental issues affecting communities like ours. She has introduced important legislation that would assist coastal communities to make 
contaminated waterfronts livable again; we hope to continue to work with the Senator in this important endeavor.”

Last year, Senator Gillibrand joined Glen Cove Mayor Ralph Suozzi at the Glen Cove Ferry Terminal and Boat Basin and announced the Waterfront Brownfields Revitalization Act, which would award similar grants to local government and nonprofit organizations that redevelop abandoned, idled or underused industrial properties on waterfronts.

The EPA grant is an important investment in Glen Cove, said Senator Gillibrand:

“Federal funding will help revitalize neighborhoods, attract new businesses, create new jobs, and make our waterfront a place for Long Islanders to live, work and 
raise a family.”

“These funds – granted to communities who have already achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfields – will help boost local economies, create local jobs and protect people from harmful pollution by expediting Brownfield projects,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, upon the announcement of the award.

The Doxey site is a critical part of the City’s plans for waterfront redevelopment. The Garvies Point Redevelopment will include a hotel, conference center, residential units, retail shops, restaurants and parks along Glen Cove Creek.

It is anticipated that the project will create 6000 temporary jobs during construction and 800 permanent jobs, and new recreational, housing, and 
transit opportunities. 

If left untouched, brownfields can be harmful to surrounding environments and habitats, diminishing economic and recreational opportunities and quality of life. In Glen Cove, at least 38 acres of tidal habitat in Hempstead Harbor were impacted by contaminants, reducing the quality of habitat available for fish, wildlife, and shellfish; and, elevated concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and metals were identified in the sediment of Glen Cove Creek. The public has been largely unable to access the waterfront lots for safety reasons since cleanup began in the late 1980’s.

The Glen Cove waterfront has undergone significant change during the past eight years. There is a new ferry landing, parking, a boat basin, bulkheading and a landscaped public esplanade lining the north side of Glen Cove Creek, in addition to over 50 acres of environmentally remediated land.

The City has already begun the RFP process for Phase II of the ferry terminal, consisting of the terminal building. Reconstruction and improvements to Garvies Point Road/Herb Hill Road and the related utilities are scheduled to begin next year.