BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) - New York's 22nd District Congressman Anthony Brindisi says proposed federal cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency will have a direct impact on the Southern Tier.
Brindisi spoke at a park in the Town of Union on Friday.
The Democrat said a proposed $2 billion cut to the EPA budget is detrimental to parts of Broome County that have suffered contamination dating back to when it was an industrial center.
"We can see right here the work that has been done over the years with the funding that's been provided from the Environmental Protection Agency," Brindisi said. "It would be a shame to see that funding cut, because it would directly impact the public health of people that live this community.”
Brindisi says the U.S. Senate needs to jump on board to legislation backed in the House that would fund Superfund clean-up sites in Broome County and across New York.
Superfund sites are toxic clean-up areas. There are eight in Broome County thanks to it’s industrial past. “That’s affecting our neighborhood," said Town of Union Supervisor Rick Materese. "It’s affecting our property values, it’s affecting our children because, again, whatever is in that soil is leaching out.”
Materese said the Town of Union can use all the help it can get. The proposed cuts would decrease aid to superfund sites by 15 percent.