cleanup · Niagara County
DuPont / Necco Park Landfill
Niagara Falls and Town of Niagara
Former DuPont disposal area containing an estimated 93,000 tons of industrial process waste. A clay cap, groundwater and dense non-aqueous-phase-liquid recovery, treatment systems, and a large monitoring-well network manage contamination in fractured bedrock.
The documented story
What happened here?
Necco Park began as a recreation property associated with the Niagara Electrochemical Company, the origin of the name 'Necco.' DuPont acquired the property in 1930 and used the approximately 24-acre area for industrial disposal from the mid-1930s through 1977.
Liquid waste went into shallow lagoons in the southeast portion while solid wastes were placed elsewhere. EPA records describe fly ash, sodium salts and cell-bath residues, rubble, chlorinolysis wastes, off-grade products, and other organic and inorganic process materials; the total is estimated at about 93,000 tons.
Investigation found contaminants in soil and a complex sequence of overburden and fractured-bedrock water-bearing zones, including dense non-aqueous-phase liquid. The remedy therefore emphasizes hydraulic containment and recovery over wholesale excavation of the waste mass.
A recreation property became a chemical landfill over fractured bedrock
Necco Park contains ninety-three thousand tons managed by cap, recovery, and treatment
93,000 tonsestimated industrial process waste within the disposal area
Before 1930-1977
Recreation land became a process-waste disposal property
DuPont placed liquid waste in shallow southeast lagoons and solid materials elsewhere. Recorded wastes include fly ash, sodium salts, cell-bath residue, rubble, chlorinolysis waste, and off-grade products.
Investigation
Dense liquid moved into a complicated bedrock system
Sampling identified soil contamination, multiple water-bearing zones, and dense non-aqueous-phase liquid. Fractures made source control and plume monitoring more complex than a shallow-soil remedy.
1998-present
Containment and recovery replaced wholesale excavation
The selected system uses a clay cap, groundwater and DNAPL recovery, seep collection, treatment, groundwater restrictions, and a broad monitoring-well network.
Chronology
Timeline
- Before 1930
The property served as Niagara Electrochemical Company recreation land, giving Necco Park its name.
- 1930
DuPont acquired the property.
- Mid-1930s-1977
DuPont used lagoons and land areas for liquid and solid process-waste disposal.
- 1977 onward
Disposal ended and investigations focused on the waste footprint, seepage, and multiple groundwater zones.
- 1998
EPA selected a remedy centered on a stronger cover, expanded groundwater and DNAPL recovery, seep collection, treatment, monitoring, and groundwater-use restrictions.
- Present
Cap care, recovery and treatment, plume monitoring, and periodic review continue across the long-term containment system.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Approximately 93,000 tons of industrial process waste remain in the disposal area.
- Groundwater contamination extends through complex fractured bedrock.
- DNAPL creates a persistent subsurface source requiring specialized recovery and monitoring.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- A clay cap isolates waste and reduces infiltration.
- Groundwater and DNAPL recovery systems remove contaminated liquids for treatment.
- A broad monitoring-well network tests plume containment and remedy performance across the layered bedrock system.
Then and now
The site today
Necco Park is a long-term containment and treatment site. Its protectiveness depends on continued recovery, treatment, cap care, and monitoring across a complex bedrock system.