BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office and the state Department of Environmental Conservation will host a meeting next week about the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund.
The meeting on the $19.5 million fund, set for Sept. 25, will offer guidance to community members with viable environmental improvement projects.
The fund was created with money paid by ExxonMobil in a 2011 settlement with the state of New York related to a massive oil spill in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The settlement required the company to completely clean up the spill and pay $19.5 million for local environmental benefit projects.
In October, the GCEF will start accepting funding proposals from the community for projects to improve, restore and protect the environment of Greenpoint.
Next week's meeting will attempt to give attendees a roadmap to participate in the grant program, including describing how community members can apply for funding and the resources available to help them develop the ideas into project proposals. Schneiderman's office and the DEC will present examples of successful community environmental projects.
The GCEF is being administered through a joint partnership of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Greenpoint-based North Brooklyn Development Corporation. The fund will be overseen by the DEC and Schneiderman's Environmental Protection Bureau.
Peter Washburn, the bureau's policy advisor; Michelle Moore, an environmental analyst with the DEC; Richard Mazur, the executive director of the North Brooklyn Development Corporation; and Amanda Bassow, the director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Eastern Partnership Office, will be on hand for the meeting.