Times Union photo illustration by Carin Lane.

More than a decade ago, this editorial board wrote of how a state program to clean up and redevelop polluted properties was wasting billions of dollars. The money, in the form of tax credits, tended to go to lucrative projects in prime areas that would likely have been remediated and built on without taxpayer help. That was hardly equitable, or a productive use of public funds.

Now we learn that the Brownfields Cleanup Program is falling short in an arguably worse way: In a significant number of instances, work that’s supposed to be done is dragging on for years.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

That finding comes from an

© Times Union