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Millions in Federal Aid for Sandy Cleanup Awarded to Suffolk, Long Beach, and LIPA

Written by Joe Randazzo  |  07. January 2014

Hazardous debris is still scattered throughout Suffolk County and the City of Long Beach more than a year after Sandy hit our shores. Now because of this Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillebrand announced $2,311,525.73 in federal funds to cover the costs of the hazardous debris removal. 
 
“Suffolk County was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, and forcing residents to pay expensive cleanup costs would be adding insult to injury,” said Schumer. “These federal funds will go a long way towards ensuring that Suffolk County residents do not have to foot the bill for storm cleanup.”
 
The more than two million will be in addition to the $14 million in federal funds given to the Suffolk County Department of Public Works in July to cover Hurricane Sandy hazardous debris removal costs.
 
The City of Long Beach will receive $6,679,908.58 to remove the more than 150,000 cubic yards of debris deposited on roads. These particular FEMA funds will cover more than 90% of the costs. As of now Long Beach removed 156,644 cubic yards of debris that were a result of the superstorm. 
 
To quickly remove the debris Long Beach has set up Temporary Disposal Staging and Reduction Sites as collection points. Whatever is collected will then be taken to a final disposal site.
 
The $6 million is in addition to the $19,795,669 awarded to the New York State Department of Transportation in July 2013 to reimburse them for removal and disposal costs. 
 
The Long Island Power Authority has also been reimbursed for tree removal crews who helped in the post-Sandy cleanup. These crews hired in the immediate aftermath of the storm were awarded $141,647,444.80. The grant will pay for damages to 877 overhead circuits, and 149 LIPA substations. Half of the funds will go toward covering the costs of additional workers, and the other half will go to covering expenses such as the construction of staging areas, securing parking lots, development of temporary housing, and hotel and travel costs. 
 
 “Long Islanders already went through enough during Hurricane Sandy, and forcing them to pay expensive cleanup costs would be adding insult to injury,” said Schumer. “These federal funds will go a long way towards ensuring that Long Island ratepayers do not find themselves footing the bill for storm damage and cleanup.”
 
[Source: Senator Charles Schumer]
 
Feature Image Courtesy of Thomas Gernon

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