Griffiss Park Wins Big For An Award In “Excellence In Site Reuse”

The Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome has won a national award.

Griffiss was named a winner in the 2021 National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards.

The award is given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and highlights the significant accomplishments of federal agencies, state, Tribes, local partners and developers in restoring and reusing contaminated land at federal facilities.

The Griffiss Park was named the winner in the Superfund National Priority List BRAC Award category.

The former Griffiss Air Force Base closed in 1995 to the BRAC Act of 1993.

The EPA added Griffiss to the National Priorities Listing (Superfund Site) in mid-1980’s while Griffiss was an active air force installation (and before BRAC) because of ground water contamination and a variety of other environmental issues.

Today, the 3,600-acre park includes Griffiss International Airport, numerous businesses, the New York Air National Guard Base, Rome DFAS and the Air Force Research Lab.

The Park is home to more than 72 tenants that employ nearly 6,000 people.

“It has been nearly 28 years since Griffiss was slated for realignment as a result of the 1993 Base Reuse and Closure Commission (BRAC).  said Steven DiMeo, Mohawk Valley EDGE President. “A lot of hard work and a tremendous amount of federal-state and community cooperation was required to develop and successfully implement a locally driven economic reuse strategy that has proven to be a major catalyst in the economic resurgence of the Utica-Rome MSA.”

For more on the 2021 Federal Excellence in Site Reuse Awards, visit EPA.gov.