It was about two-and-a-half years ago that Governor Pataki came to Buffalo for a ground-breaking at an old industrial site along Buffalo's outer-harbor. CertainTeed, a manufacturer vinyl fences, decks and railings, announced plans to build at a site that was once occupied by Hanna Furnace. Today, a new plant employing 300 workers sits on the site.

Tuesday, CertainTeed and the property's developer, Krog, Incorporated, were certified as having cleaned up the old brownfield site of contaminants.

"Under the legislation that was passed in October 2003, there was a program created called the 'Brownfield Clean Up Program.' What it does is it is encourages development of old industrial properties such as this one by providing tax credits," said Dan David, an environmental engineer with the regional office of the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

David says this site is the first to receive the state certification. He says the new law paves the way for the re-use of old industrial sites...

"It encourages developers to come in and use already-contaminated properties rather than allowing those properties to go to waste," David said.

But not everyone is pleased that CertainTeed has a plant on Buffalo's waterfront. At the ground-breaking in October 2003, a group of local environmentalists protested, saying the company uses the dangerous chemical PVC in the vinyl products it makes. © Copyright 2012, WBFO