NIAGARA FALLS, NY-  This 5.5 acre site on Highland Avenue, the former home of Union Carbide,  was once designated a brownfield. But now thanks to Canadian businessman John Bordynuick, and his company Sandstone Springs, it's slowly turning green.

"Sandstone Springs is a company that looks for value in waste streams, recycle streams that aren't otherwise recycled or used.  "So what that means is we take something that you would look at like your countertop, and when that countertop is made there's a lot of rejects, there're a lot of cuttings in that. And we take those and recover the original chemicals made to make that countertop," said Bordynuick.

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster says the old Union Carbide complex had been vacant for decades. Thanks to a state grant the city was able to being renovation of the property without a tenant lined up.

"And then low and behold, before we could even finish the renovation of the building Sandstone Springs came forward and said we're looking to do a major expansion in Niagara Falls, we think this space would be perfect for us, what do you think? So, this was kind of a marriage made in heaven from the very beginning," said Dyster.

But, city officials say the marriage did come at a price.

"In total we put a million-two into this property. We have partners, National Grid which contributed a $300-thousand grant, and New York State Empire State Development contributed another $500 thousand dollar grant to this project, and we were able to successfully before we were done with the improvements here market the property successfully to a developer who has already put in two million dollars of his own money and he's just starting," said Thomas DeSantis, Dir. of Planning and Development City of Niagara Falls.  

Sandstone Springs already has a small testing facility on 24th Street. Bordynuick says ultimately he'd like this new facility will serve as a technology center that can attract young people and help transform the area.

"So this is to build a technology park that would hopefully someday have a hundred people working in it like it used to when this was a Union Carbide plant. Current we've hired eight more full-time staff we're at 16 staff now here at growing," said Bordynuick.