NYSDEC Applauds EPA'S Selection of Staten Island Neighborhood for "Showcase Communities" Program

• by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

ALBANY, NY (11/18/2009)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) selection of northern Staten Island as an Environmental Justice Showcase Community. The Environmental Justice Showcase Communities program uses collaborative, community-based approaches to help address concerns in communities disproportionately exposed to environmental risks.

Commissioner Grannis said: "Initiatives that promote environmental justice are critical in addressing disproportionate adverse impacts that may exist in neighborhoods that combine industry, commerce, and residences, like the North Shore of Staten Island. We applaud EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for expanding the Showcase Communities program to this area of New York City, and for the opportunity to apply what is learned here to other areas of our state. DEC is proud to have supported community efforts to document industrial pollution along the North Shore of Staten Island. We pledge this agency's full cooperation with EPA and the residents of the North Shore to provide real public health and environmental benefits to this community, and we will continue to remain vigilant in holding polluters accountable for their actions."

Additional information about New York's Environmental Justice Programs can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/public/333.html on the DEC's website. For information about EPA's announcement, go to http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/B3D235503BC70B3A852576710060F044 .