cleanup · Genesee County
Batavia Former Manufactured Gas Plant
Batavia
Former Evans Street gasworks that operated from 1855 until sometime after 1909. DEC investigations documented coal tar, PAHs and volatile compounds in soil or groundwater; the selected remedy combines excavation, a site cover, groundwater monitoring and continuing controls.
The documented story
What happened here?
Manufactured gas was produced at the Evans Street property beginning in 1855 under the Batavia Gas Light Company and later the Batavia Gas and Electric Company. DEC's historical review places continued gas-manufacturing use sometime beyond 1909.
The property forms part of a larger Evans Street redevelopment landscape, but the former manufactured-gas plant and neighboring brownfield-program parcels retain separate regulatory records.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
1855
Documented manufactured-gas operations began on Evans Street.
After 1909
The reviewed history indicates continued gas-manufacturing use, but does not establish a precise closing year.
2012
DEC completed a site-characterization report documenting former plant structures and subsurface conditions.
2020
DEC selected a Brownfield Cleanup Program remedy for the 7 Evans Street property.
Long-term phase
The selected remedy requires site controls, groundwater monitoring and a site-management plan.
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.
Batavia asks cleanup planners to preserve its historic gas holder
The city historian and public comments emphasized the circular 1855-era structure's landmark value. DEC responded that the selected stabilization work would not require demolition and would protect the building's stability.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗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
- Coal tar was observed in a monitoring well near a former tar-tank area.
- PAHs and volatile compounds associated with manufactured-gas operations affected soil or groundwater in defined areas.
- The record supports a property-specific cleanup history; it does not establish identical conditions across every neighboring Evans Street parcel.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The selected remedy calls for excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 660 cubic yards of contaminated material.
- A site cover limits routine contact with remaining subsurface material.
- Monitored natural attenuation, an environmental easement and a site-management plan govern residual groundwater and future disturbance.
Then and now
The site today
The former gasworks is part of Batavia's downtown redevelopment area. WNY Atlas keeps adjacent Batavia Creek Park and Ellicott Station program records distinct.
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.
Genesee County industrial and disposal sites
Municipal disposal, scrap-metal processing, and railroad transport provide three different views of Genesee County's documented cleanup history.
The landfill received industrial wastes before its federal cleanup, deletion, and continuing stewardship.
Scrap and metal processingBatavia Iron and MetalThe Bank Street site adds a Class 2 industrial cleanup within the City of Batavia.
Railroad releaseLehigh Valley Railroad DerailmentThe Le Roy site shows how rail transport created a different kind of historical contamination record.
Manufactured-gas plantBatavia Former Manufactured Gas PlantThe Evans Street gasworks adds Batavia's nineteenth-century energy infrastructure and its coal-tar cleanup record.
Electrical-insulator manufacturingLapp Insulator CompanyThe large Le Roy property documents a separate history of ceramic manufacturing, chlorinated solvents and long-term groundwater management.