MONTICELLO, NY — The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 6 announced that it will give $500,000 to the Sullivan County Land Bank Corporation (SCLB) as a Brownfield Cleanup Grant. Grant funds are slated to be used to clean up Monticello Manor at 15 High St. in Monticello.

The buildings on the 5.6-acre operated as a hospital from 1923 to 1977. It was then converted to a nursing home that closed in 2008. The site currently is vacant and has been used by homeless residents for shelter in recent years.

The site is contaminated with petroleum from leaking aboveground and underground storage tanks and other contaminants.

The project will go forward despite the layoffs in the Sullivan County planning department. 

Jill Weyer, executive director of SCLB said, “The funding was awarded to the Sullivan County Land Bank directly, not the county, so we will definitely be accepting it and continuing to move this exciting project forward. While the county provides in-kind services in the form of staffing for the land bank, the project is not expected to commence until October and  we hope to have positions restored by that time.”

The announcement was applauded by Congressman Antonio Delgado. He said, “Support for remediating this brownfield location in Monticello will help to improve the landscape, create jobs and grow the economy..."