cleanup · Niagara County
Mill No. 2
Niagara Falls
Former paper-manufacturing complex built in stages from 1923 through 1974 and inactive after 1982. Brownfield redevelopment removed the deteriorated mill, chemically contaminated historic fill, and localized radiologically affected soil; Greenpac now operates on the industrially restricted property.
The documented story
What happened here?
Former Mill No. 2 occupied roughly 18 acres between Royal Avenue, 47th Street, power-authority land, and the neighboring Norampac operation. DEC records describe approximately 661,980 square feet of interconnected concrete and masonry buildings constructed in stages from 1923 through 1974 for paper manufacturing, finishing, and packaging.
The mill had been inactive since 1982. By the cleanup period, parts of the complex had collapsed or developed structural distress, a significant fire had worsened the deterioration, and asbestos-containing building materials were present. The subsurface also contained historic fill made up of crushed stone, concrete, slag, brick, sand, and other material.
Investigation identified conventional industrial contamination and localized areas of elevated radiation within portions of the historic fill. The reviewed DEC records document discovery, delineation, screening, excavation, and disposal of the radiologically affected material, but they do not establish who originally produced it or when it was placed at the mill. WNY Atlas therefore does not assign that material to a particular company or federal program.
Demolition and soil excavation cleared the obsolete complex for construction of the Greenpac recycled-paperboard mill. The project is an example of industrial redevelopment after a large mixed chemical and radiological cleanup, with continuing controls tied to industrial use.
A ruined paper mill became a working mill again
Former Mill No. 2 required chemical and radiological removal before Greenpac
20,087 tonsradiologically affected soil reported shipped to a permitted disposal facility
1923-1982
Successive buildings formed an enormous paper-manufacturing complex
Nearly 662,000 square feet of connected concrete and masonry buildings were constructed in stages for paper production, finishing, and packaging. The mill became inactive in 1982 and later suffered collapse, structural distress, and a significant fire.
2010-2012
Demolition exposed several different cleanup problems
Crews removed failing buildings and asbestos-containing materials, then investigated fill and soil beneath the structures. Chemical hot spots and localized radiological readings required separate screening, excavation, transportation, and disposal procedures.
Redevelopment
The cleanup supported new manufacturing under continuing controls
Project records report large soil removals, including 20,087 tons of radiologically affected soil sent to a permitted Michigan facility. Greenpac now operates a recycled-paperboard mill under an environmental easement, industrial-use limits, groundwater restrictions, and excavation procedures.
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
- 1923–1974
Successive mill buildings were constructed for paper manufacturing, finishing, and packaging operations.
- 1982
The former mill became inactive; the unused complex later deteriorated and suffered structural damage and a significant fire.
- 2010–2011
Interim remedial measures demolished the former mill, Building 10, and the wastewater pretreatment plant so the subsurface could be investigated and redeveloped safely.
- July–December 2011
Excavation removed chemical hot spots, historic fill, and radiologically affected soil while foundations were prepared for the new mill.
- June 2012
DEC issued the Brownfield Cleanup Program Certificate of Completion after the removal program achieved the approved industrial cleanup objectives.
- Present
Greenpac operates a recycled-paperboard manufacturing facility on the remediated industrial property under an environmental easement and site-management requirements.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Soil and historic fill contained polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, manganese, mercury, antimony, and localized volatile organic compounds above applicable cleanup criteria.
- Localized radiologically affected fill required specialized walkover surveys, field screening, excavation, transportation controls, and disposal at a permitted out-of-state facility.
- DEC reported that volatile organic compounds detected in overburden groundwater along the eastern boundary were associated with the adjacent Frontier Chemical Royal Avenue site. That finding is a documented neighboring-site relationship, not evidence that the two regulatory sites share one boundary or remedy.
- The radiological findings were bounded areas within the cleanup property. They should not be generalized to the surrounding Niagara Falls neighborhood, and their original source remains unresolved in the records reviewed for this update.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The deteriorated mill complex was demolished, and excavation removed soil and fill exceeding the industrial cleanup objectives from the accessible remediation areas.
- Project records report approximately 135,839 tons of contaminated soil disposed at permitted local landfills, 67,827 tons of soil meeting the approved reuse criteria sent for reuse, and 20,087 tons of radiologically affected soil shipped to a permitted facility in Michigan.
- A site-wide radiological survey and field screening guided removal until DEC-approved excavation criteria were met. Confirmation sampling and construction documentation addressed the chemical excavation areas.
- The environmental easement limits the property to industrial use, restricts groundwater use, prohibits agriculture and vegetable gardens, and requires compliance with the approved Site Management Plan and future-excavation procedures.
Then and now
The site today
Former Mill No. 2 is now part of the operating Greenpac mill property. DEC considers the Brownfield Cleanup Program remedy complete for its approved industrial use, with the environmental easement, pavement and buildings, excavation procedures, and periodic certification preserving the assumptions behind that conclusion.