New York's $4.3 million COVID plan to put sanitizer on every hand is going to cost taxpayers another $2.3 million as the state now has to dispose of 760,000 gallons of the germ killer that has expired.
A contract with Eastman Kodak calls for the safe removal of the alcohol-laden product from a storage site at an abandoned airport runway in Oriskany. Aerial photos showed a field of pallets loaded with the expired product covered by tarps. A recent report said the site started with 4,364 pallets, and there are 1,892 left to go.
The sanitizer, once available at state offices and distributed by elected officials through various organizations in their districts, was produced in abundance by prison inmates under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo's NYS Clean effort. The mixture cost $6.10 a gallon to make.
"At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, NYS Clean hand sanitizer was mass-produced by the state and made widely available to New Yorkers at a critical time when it was in short supply," explained the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. "Due to the quantity of this flammable material, it must be stored outdoors to meet fire code, and the location offers the necessary space to do so at no additional cost to taxpayers."
“This is just another example of how the state mishandled the COVID crisis,” said Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano. “They created way more of the sanitizer than they could possibly distribute and now the taxpayers are paying the price,” said Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh. “My reaction is pretty much like anyone else's. That's nuts, what a waste." Senator Anthony Palumbo called for an investigation.
Original estimates had the runway site cleared in 44 weeks, but a July deadline has come and gone. Recent activity has shown contractors removing the material on an intermittent basis. Eastman Kodak is reportedly distilling the sanitizer to extract its alcohol for reuse in other manufactured products.
 |
| File Photo |