Alltift Landfill / Ramco Steel

Alltift Landfill and Ramco Steel were historically distinct but adjoining properties near Tifft Street and the Buffalo River industrial corridor. The former Alltift disposal area occupied about 25 acres; the Ramco Steel parcel added roughly 8.5 acres of later industrial land to the combined cleanup record.

The waste history changed over time. From the 1950s into the early 1970s, records describe bulk disposal of dye and oil sludges, phenolic compounds, chromium sludge, copper sulfate, nitrobenzene, monochlorobenzene, and naphthalene. After a pause, later disposal included automobile-shredder residue, foundry core sand, fly ash, and sand waste at an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 cubic yards per year.

Investigation found heterogeneous waste, contaminated soil and sediment, and groundwater moving toward adjoining wetlands. The remedy joined the two properties physically: waste from Ramco and material around Alltift's edges were consolidated into a defined landfill footprint on Alltift, then isolated beneath an engineered cap.

Construction from November 2003 to November 2005 added groundwater collection and relief trenches at the downgradient toe, routing collected water to the Buffalo Sewer Authority under a discharge permit. Created wetlands replaced disturbed habitat along the west and south sides. In 2013 DEC moved Alltift to Class 4 and removed Ramco from the registry, but the combined cap and water controls remain one managed system.