By Vincent Gallo, Northern New York Newspapers

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is moving forward with its Brownfield program after a brief hiatus, in order to focus on the demolition of abandoned homes and structures located on tribal land.

The program is picking up once more, after halting production in 2019. Several Tribal programs at the time, collaborated to tear down and remove three of 25 total structures in the community that were deemed unsafe. One was located at Raquette Point while the other two were on Route 37.

The Tribe had planned to resume work last year, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts have since resumed and the Tribe has removed two additional abandoned homes, officials said.

“The Brownfield program was put on hold in March 2020, due to the pandemic when most Tribal staff were furloughed,” SRMT Director of Communications Brendan White said Friday. “Only very limited essential service staff continued working. The Tribe slowly recalled workers with most returning between June and September.”

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For the entire article, see

https://www.nny360.com/news/stlawrencecounty/st-regis-mohawk-tribe-resumes-brownfield-demolition-initiative-after-halt-through-pandemic/article_7e5ee565-67db-52c1-bd93-86d54e844c45.html

Posted June 29, 2021