industry · Erie County
FMC Tonawanda Plant
Town of Tonawanda
River Road and Sawyer Avenue chemical-manufacturing property included in the southwestern Tonawanda groundwater study; its former state waste-site listing was delisted while regulated operations continued under later owners.
The documented story
What happened here?
The former FMC Tonawanda plant near River Road and Sawyer Avenue has operated under several corporate owners in chemical manufacturing. DEC evaluated it within the southwestern Tonawanda groundwater study, while EPA reporting documents regulated chemical releases from the industrial corridor.
The property's former state hazardous-waste listing was delisted, but later operations continued under environmental permits. Delisting a past waste site and regulating a current plant are separate actions with different meanings.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
FMC era
Chemical manufacturing and waste-management activities developed at the property.
State site review
DEC investigated the former hazardous-waste listing and later delisted it.
Regional groundwater study
The facility was evaluated alongside other southwestern Tonawanda industrial properties.
Later ownership
Chemical operations continued under PeroxyChem, Evonik, or related entities and active permits.
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.
A delisted waste site remains part of Tonawanda's regulated chemical corridor
DEC's southwestern Tonawanda study evaluated the former FMC property alongside neighboring industrial sites. Delisting the historic waste record did not end air, wastewater, hazardous-waste or chemical-release oversight of later operations.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Historical industrial activities warranted state waste-site and regional groundwater evaluation.
- Facility chemical releases and waste streams are documented through regulatory reporting.
- Shared groundwater conditions along River Road require source-specific evidence before attributing a plume.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- State delisting records define what historical conditions were evaluated and why further listed-site action was not required.
- Current operations remain subject to air, wastewater, hazardous-waste, and chemical-release requirements.
- Any new release or emerging-contaminant finding should be assessed through current permit and corrective-action records.
Then and now
The site today
This is a regulated industrial property with a historical cleanup record, not an open Superfund site. Both facts belong on the map, with the delisted state site kept distinct from continuing permitted operations.