More cleanup funding is flowing for the Buffalo River. Great Lakes Commission policy director Matt Doss announced a $4.7 million award for shoreline and habitat restoration along the river at Smith Street Park, Monday morning. After more than a decade of planning and hard work, Doss says the Buffalo River cleanup project should be complete in the next five years.
"This builds on a tremendous amount of work that New York state, the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, the [U.S. Army] Corps of Engineers, and many other partners have done to clean up historic contamination in this river, and really make it an economic and environmental asset for the people of Buffalo and all of New York state," said Doss.
The Buffalo River is on track to be removed from the list of Great Lakes "toxic hotspots" by 2019, according to Doss.
Funding for the shoreline restoration work comes from the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.