radiological · Erie County
Ashland 1 / Former Ashland Oil Refinery
Town of Tonawanda
Former River Road refinery property where Linde uranium-processing residues had been stored before Ashland Oil acquired the land; federal cleanup was completed in 2003.
The documented story
What happened here?
Ashland 1, historically known as the Haist Property, stored about 8,000 tons of low-grade uranium-ore tailings from Linde's Manhattan Project-era processing between 1944 and 1946. Ashland Oil later acquired the land in 1960 and incorporated it into refinery operations.
The property is part of the interconnected Tonawanda FUSRAP story: material originated at Linde, was stored at Ashland 1, and some was later moved to Seaway. The federal remedy removed qualifying radiological material rather than treating every consequence of later refinery use as a FUSRAP condition.
Wartime uranium residues entered a later refinery landscape
Ashland 1 carried material from Linde's uranium program into Tonawanda's postwar industrial era
173,000 tonsmaterial excavated during the completed Ashland 1 cleanup
1944-1946
A storage property became part of the Manhattan Project supply chain
Linde processed uranium ore in Tonawanda for the wartime atomic program. Roughly 8,000 tons of low-grade tailings were placed at the property then known as the Haist site, linking this River Road parcel to production performed elsewhere.
1960-1974
A refinery inherited the land and later moved some affected soil
Ashland Oil acquired the property in 1960 for refinery use. During 1974 drainage-ditch and tank-berm construction, radioactive residue mixed with excavated soil was transported to Ashland 2 and Seaway, extending one historical material chain across multiple properties.
1998-2006
Federal cleanup removed the residue instead of containing it in place
The Army Corps selected excavation and off-site disposal. Cleanup at Ashland 1 was completed in 2003 after approximately 173,000 tons were removed; related work at Rattlesnake Creek concluded in 2005 and the Ashland completion report followed in 2006.
Manhattan Project-derived material: wartime Linde residues stored on the property
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.
Wartime residues are stored, then moved among Tonawanda industrial properties
Material originating with Linde uranium processing remained at Ashland 1 before later transfers spread part of the cleanup responsibility to Ashland 2 and Seaway Area D.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ↗Public information sessions accompany removal and federal closeout
The federal community-relations record documents information repositories, comment opportunities, and repeated briefings while contaminated material was excavated and shipped away.
U.S. Department of Energy / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ↗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.
Chronology
Timeline
- 1944–1946
Approximately 8,000 tons of Linde uranium-ore tailings were stored on the Haist Property.
- 1960
Ashland Oil acquired the property for refinery use.
- 1998
USACE signed the Record of Decision for Ashland 1, Ashland 2, and Seaway Area D.
- 2003
Ashland 1 cleanup was completed after 173,000 tons of material were excavated for off-site disposal.
- 2008–present
The site entered federal long-term stewardship under the Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Stored uranium-processing residues affected soil at the former Ashland refinery property.
- The material history links Ashland 1 to Linde, Ashland 2, Seaway Area D, and portions of Rattlesnake Creek.
- FUSRAP eligibility and cleanup criteria address early atomic-energy contamination and should not be used as a blanket description of all refinery-era conditions.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- USACE excavated approximately 173,000 tons of material from Ashland 1 and shipped it off site for disposal.
- Related work removed more than 33,000 tons from affected portions of Rattlesnake Creek in 2005.
- Federal long-term stewardship preserves records and verifies the completed remedy under the land-use assumptions established by the cleanup.
Then and now
The site today
The FUSRAP remedial action is complete and the site is under DOE legacy management. Its present-day story is one of documented removal and stewardship, while the movement of material to Seaway remains a separate containment history.
Atlas connections
Connected places
These collections explain documented material, facility, waterway, ownership, or cleanup relationships. Inclusion does not imply that every place shares one contaminant source or plume.
Tonawanda FUSRAP material network
Uranium-processing residues and related material moved among industrial properties, storage areas, landfills, and vicinity properties in the Town of Tonawanda.
Linde processed uranium ores for the Manhattan Engineer District, creating residues later addressed at multiple Tonawanda properties.
Interim storage propertyAshland 1 / Former Ashland Oil RefineryThe former refinery property received Linde-related residues before portions of the material were moved again.
Related cleanup propertyAshland 2 FUSRAP SiteAshland 2 forms part of the federal Tonawanda FUSRAP cleanup record and its connected material history.
Landfill containment siteSeaway FUSRAP Site / Tonawanda North Unit 3Material moved from Ashland 1 in 1974 became part of the radiological remedy at the Seaway landfill.
Vicinity propertyTonawanda Landfill FUSRAP Vicinity PropertyThe landfill vicinity record tracks qualifying material outside the principal federal cleanup boundaries.
Related disposal propertyNiagara Mohawk–Cherry FarmCherry Farm belongs to the broader Tonawanda record of industrial disposal and radiological investigation.
Radiological-map connection
Place this site in the wider material history
The separate radiological investigation map distinguishes producers, processors, storage, the 100 historical survey records, federal remediation, and current assessment coverage.
Linked research mapOpen the radiological investigation →