Cleanup at asbestos-laden Ithaca Gun site moving along

In Ithaca, New York, the cleanup at the former site of Ithaca Gun is lurching forward, albeit very slowly. The project was delayed in the latter days of 2009 due to funding issues. The board of Empire State Development Corp. (the agency responsible for disbursing the grant money for the project) will decide later this month if the city of Ithaca will be allowed to redistribute $420,000 from the grant in order to clean up the site.

The money in question was originally slated to subsidize redevelopment, but the extent of the cleanup was far larger than was expected at the beginning of the project. Cleanup must be completed before redevelopment can begin. The money comes from the Restore NY grant fund. The money, if allowed to be used for cleanup, would be used to clear away piles of contaminated waste.

Asbestos and other hazardous materials are present at the site due to its age and the materials used to create firearms there in past decades. Asbestos exposure can lead to mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that often targets the lungs. Mesothelioma affects less than 3,000 Americans each year, with the disease typically lurking dormant for up to fifty years before an individual begins to exhibit the first symptoms of the cancer.

Developer Frost Travis said, "From the state’s point of view I can understand this; they’ve been entrusted with these public funds and they want to make sure they’re put to work in the most cost-effective manner. And they feel that if they don’t have some money in reserve, then there’s no guarantee the project would actually happen. I’m willing to forego the $800,000 that I otherwise would be eligible for towards the redevelopment, because without it going toward the remediation, there’s no cleanup."