cleanup · Cattaraugus County
Alcas Cutlery
Olean
Solvent releases beneath the former Alcas cutlery plant became one of four documented sources in the Olean Well Field Superfund case, where the cleanup plan had to be rewritten after dense contamination was found beneath an operating factory.
The documented story
What happened here?
Alcas Cutlery manufactured knives at 1116 East State Street, a property now owned and operated by Cutco. Its pollution history belongs inside the larger Olean Well Field case: in 1981, Olean officials found volatile organic compounds in municipal supply wells, and investigators eventually identified Alcas, AVX, McGraw-Edison, and Loohn's Dry Cleaners as four source properties affecting the shared aquifer system.
At Alcas, soil and groundwater sampling identified 1,1,1-trichloroethane and related chlorinated compounds associated with industrial solvent use. EPA concluded that the property was a source because contaminants were found in source-area soil and groundwater and the hydrogeology provided a pathway toward the well-field aquifers—not merely because the factory was nearby.
The first regional response protected drinking water before every source was controlled. Public wells were taken out of service, a surface-water treatment plant supplied residents, carbon units were installed on affected private wells, and public water was later extended to about 93 homes. Air stripping allowed municipal groundwater wells to return to service in 1990 under treatment and monitoring.
The source cleanup proved harder. EPA's 1996 plan called for vacuum-enhanced recovery at Alcas, but later work found dense non-aqueous phase liquid beneath the main manufacturing building and contamination in the upper aquifer on the adjoining area called Parcel B. The geology and active building made the original method impractical, leading EPA to replace it in 2014.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
1981–1985
Volatile compounds were discovered in Olean's municipal wells. The city stopped using affected wells, EPA placed carbon treatment on private wells, and Alcas was investigated as one of several industrial sources.
1986–1990
EPA ordered responsible parties to implement the regional water-supply remedy. Public water reached approximately 93 private-well homes, and air strippers allowed treated municipal wells to return to operation.
1991–1996
Supplemental investigation documented solvent-contaminated soil and groundwater at Alcas. EPA's 1996 source-control decision selected vacuum-enhanced recovery.
1998
A federal consent decree required responsible companies to perform property-specific source remedies within the wider Superfund site.
2000s–2014
Predesign work and pilot studies revealed a dense contaminant mass beneath the active factory and additional groundwater impacts on Parcel B, showing that the original Alcas remedy would not work as planned.
September 2014
EPA amended the remedy: activated-persulfate chemical oxidation for soil and groundwater at the Alcas facility, and enhanced anaerobic bioremediation for Parcel B.
2020–present
EPA's project record lists remedial action and long-term response work at the Alcas source area and Parcel B, with sitewide groundwater sampling continuing.
News record
Major news events
Coverage selected here marks a turning point in public awareness, policy, enforcement, employment, or cleanup. Links open at the original publisher or archive; WNYAtlas does not reproduce restricted articles or images.
EPA replaces a cleanup plan that could not reach contamination beneath the Cutco factory
Additional investigation found a dense solvent mass beneath the main building and contamination on adjoining Parcel B. EPA replaced vacuum-enhanced recovery with chemical oxidation at the plant and biological treatment south of it, while the cutlery business remained active.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ↗Chemical guide
Chemicals named in this record
These links explain potential hazards and exposure pathways. A chemical named in a record does not establish that anyone was exposed or harmed.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- The Alcas source area contained 1,1,1-TCA, TCE, PCE, dichloroethene, vinyl chloride, and related volatile compounds in soil or groundwater. The dense solvent mass beneath the building was a source feeding the underlying aquifers.
- Alcas is one source within an approximately 1.5-square-mile groundwater case. It should neither receive sole blame for the Olean Well Field contamination nor be reduced to an unrelated state marker.
- The well-field response documents a direct community consequence: municipal wells were shut down, affected private wells received carbon treatment, and roughly 93 homes were connected to public water before the permanent source remedies were complete.
- EPA reports that vapor-intrusion evaluations conducted at various buildings across the wider site from 2009 to 2011 found no indication at the evaluated locations except elevated sub-slab TCE at one building, which has been monitored annually. The public record does not identify that statement as a neighborhood-wide Alcas exposure finding.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The regional remedy treats municipal groundwater by air stripping, restricts groundwater use where necessary, and relies on sitewide and source-area monitoring while individual industrial sources are addressed.
- At the Alcas facility, wells inject activated persulfate to chemically oxidize solvent contamination in place beneath an active industrial property. On Parcel B, enhanced anaerobic bioremediation supplies conditions that help microorganisms break down chlorinated compounds.
- The 2014 amendment retained excavation, monitoring, and institutional controls where required. Changing the remedy was a response to better subsurface evidence, not evidence that the source had disappeared.
- EPA's current site profile says the Alcas and Parcel B cleanups are underway. Treatment progress and cleanup attainment should therefore be reported from the newest sampling and long-term-response documents, not inferred from the continuing operation of Cutco.
Then and now
The site today
Cutco continues manufacturing at the former Alcas property while EPA-supervised in-place treatment proceeds beneath and beside it. The broader well field remains a federal Superfund site with treated public supply, source-area work, and semiannual groundwater monitoring.