cleanup · Erie County
Chemical Leaman Tank Lines
Tonawanda
Former chemical tank-truck terminal and cleaning property on Fillmore Avenue. The active Class 2 State Superfund site covers roughly 15 acres and is subject to an environmental easement, making it an important companion to the River Road chemical and transportation corridor.
The documented story
What happened here?
Chemical Leaman Tank Lines operated a chemical tank-truck terminal on Fillmore Avenue in Tonawanda. Tank cleaning and freight handling generated wastewater and residues that were managed in on-site impoundments before modern hazardous-waste controls were established.
The property also contains layers of transportation and disposal history. A former trolley grade crossed the land, construction and demolition fill covered much of the western portion, and the southern edge drains toward Ellicott Creek.
Chemical transportation created a waste-treatment site between road and creek
Chemical Leaman washed tank trucks and stored the residues in on-site impoundments
15 acresapproximately, controlled by the environmental easement
Layered landscape
Transportation history preceded the chemical terminal
A trolley grade crossed the property before terminal development. During the 1970s, construction and demolition material accumulated over the western area, adding a fill history distinct from chemical-tank operations.
Tank-terminal era
Washing freight tanks concentrated chemical residues
Tank cleaning and chemical handling generated wastewater placed in on-site impoundments. Investigators also evaluated leachate and movement toward low ground and Ellicott Creek.
1987-present
Impoundment closure removed material but did not finish the site
DEC ordered closure; contaminated material was excavated and shipped off site during 1987-1989 work. Remaining soil, groundwater, fill, and migration questions keep the property in the Class 2 program under an easement.
Chronology
Timeline
- Pre-terminal landscape
A north-south trolley grade crossed the property before later industrial filling and terminal development.
- Tank-terminal era
Chemical Leaman operated tank-truck handling and cleaning facilities with waste impoundments.
- 1970s
Construction and demolition fill accumulated on the western property, including material reportedly associated with a burned Tonawanda department store.
- 1987–1989
DEC ordered closure of the impoundments; contaminated material was excavated and shipped off site, followed by additional excavation and backfilling.
- Present
The Class 2 site remains under remediation requirements and an approximately 15-acre environmental easement.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Tank washing and chemical-freight operations generated residues and wastewater managed in on-site impoundments.
- Investigators documented fill, leachate breakout, and potential migration toward the low southern portion of the property and Ellicott Creek.
- Construction and demolition debris complicates the site history but should not automatically be described as hazardous industrial waste without supporting records.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Waste-impoundment material was excavated and transported to an industrial disposal facility during closure work.
- Additional investigation and remedy requirements address remaining soil, groundwater, fill, and migration pathways.
- An environmental easement controls land use and requires compliance with the approved site-management framework.
Then and now
The site today
Chemical Leaman remains a managed Class 2 cleanup property. Its story connects chemical transportation, tank cleaning, informal fill, historic transit infrastructure, and Ellicott Creek rather than representing a single isolated spill.
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.
River Road industrial and disposal corridor
Coke, plastics, steel, landfills, and material-transfer histories overlap along River Road. These records are geographically related but retain separate cleanup boundaries and responsible-party histories.
The former coke plant anchors the corridor's heavy-industrial and air-emissions history.
Plastics propertyTonawanda PlasticsThe plastics site is a separately regulated industrial property within the same River Road landscape.
Steel propertyRoblin Steel — TonawandaThis Tonawanda steel site is distinct from the former Roblin Steel cleanup in Dunkirk.
Chemical tank-truck terminalChemical Leaman Tank LinesChemical Leaman adds chemical transport, tank cleaning, and a managed environmental easement to the corridor.
Upland and sediment cleanup5565 River RoadThe 5565 River Road record connects a Class 2 upland site with separately mapped PCB-affected sediment.
Industrial landfillNiagara Mohawk–Cherry FarmCherry Farm connects the corridor's manufacturing history to documented disposal and long-term containment.
Mixed landfill and FUSRAP siteSeaway FUSRAP Site / Tonawanda North Unit 3Seaway adds municipal, industrial, and radiological material histories to the corridor.