HooRWA is working with the Village of Valley Falls ( just upstream from Schaghticoke, NY), the Rensselaer Land Trust and the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation to create a riverside park out of a larger parcel of land that is the site of a derelict mill. The former Thompson Mill, which produced textiles for 100 years beginning in 1871, burned in 2009. The first step will be to apply for US EPA Brownfield funds this fall to do an assessment of of the property, in order to determine the level of any hazardous materials. Then there may be New York State Funds available, with a local match, to clean up the site and create a park. Envisioned are trails, boat-top launch area and other amenities, fitting into HooRWA’s effort to establish a River Trail the length of the Hoosic.
