cleanup · Chautauqua County
Roblin Steel
Dunkirk
Twelve-acre portion of a complex established by the American Locomotive Company in 1910 and later used for steel reclamation. Cleanup, building demolition, groundwater monitoring, and an environmental easement supported industrial reuse.
The documented story
What happened here?
The Dunkirk property began as part of an American Locomotive Company complex established around 1910, connecting the Lake Erie city to the national railroad-equipment industry. Later occupants adapted portions of the complex for metal and steel reclamation, including Roblin Steel.
The cleanup covers an approximately 12-acre portion of this larger industrial landscape. Roblin's steel-reclamation and rolling-mill operations ended in 1987, followed by salvage and partial demolition through the late 1980s and early 1990s.
DEC divided the cleanup evidence into seven media groups covering debris and fill, chlorinated-solvent soil, PAH-, metals-, and petroleum-affected soil, drainage features, buildings, PCB areas, and VOC-affected groundwater. That structure prevents one sampling result from being generalized across the entire former industrial park.
The mill survived in the memories of its workforce
Roblin Steel's closure ended production but not the workers' connection
280approximately, workers reported during Roblin's operating era
1910 onward
Locomotive manufacturing established the larger industrial complex
American Locomotive developed the Dunkirk works around 1910. Later owners divided and adapted the complex, and Roblin Steel acquired its portion for steel reclamation and rolling operations near the city's rail and Lake Erie industrial corridor.
1969-1987
A union steel workforce built a shared plant identity
Roblin employed roughly 280 people and most production employees were represented by United Steelworkers Local 6599. A 2015 reunion account records how former employees continued to organize gatherings nearly three decades after production ceased.
After closure
Vacancy transferred an industrial workplace into a public cleanup project
Salvage, deterioration, hazardous material, contaminated soil and groundwater, and demolition followed the shutdown. Chautauqua County acquired the parcel, completed major remedial work, and returned it to controlled industrial reuse with monitoring and an environmental easement.
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
- Circa 1910
American Locomotive Company established the larger Dunkirk manufacturing complex.
- Later industrial era–1987
Roblin Steel and related occupants used portions of the property for steel reclamation and rolling-mill work until operations ceased in 1987.
- 2001–2005
Chautauqua County acquired the vacant property, investigated it through the Environmental Restoration Program, and DEC issued the Record of Decision in March 2005.
- 2006–2010
Remedial work addressed contaminated areas, and the last industrial building was demolished; DEC records completion in September 2010.
- Present
Groundwater monitoring and an environmental easement continue on the completed cleanup parcel.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Soil and fill contained metals, PAHs, petroleum-related material, chlorinated solvents, and localized PCBs associated with historical operations.
- Groundwater monitoring identified volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene, in defined areas.
- DEC sampling found no site-originating contamination in Hyde Creek surface water during the reported investigation.
- Aging industrial buildings and infrastructure required environmental management during demolition.
- The 12-acre cleanup parcel is part of a larger complex whose neighboring properties may have different records and controls.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Buildings were demolished under controlled conditions and identified contaminated material was removed or managed.
- Groundwater monitoring tracks residual subsurface conditions.
- An environmental easement, approved cover, excavation controls, and site management preserve the assumptions supporting industrial reuse.
Then and now
The site today
The former Roblin Steel parcel has completed major remedial construction and supports controlled industrial reuse. It should not be confused with the separately listed Roblin Steel site in Tonawanda.
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.
Dunkirk metals and manufacturing corridor
Former locomotive, steel-reclamation, specialty-metal, and related industrial properties form a connected manufacturing landscape whose individual remedies and present uses differ.
AlTech represents the corridor's largest and longest-running steelmaking cleanup record.
Locomotive and steel-reclamation propertyRoblin SteelThe property began within the American Locomotive Company complex and later supported steel reclamation.
Aerospace-alloy manufacturingSpecial MetalsSpecial Metals shows continued industrial use alongside a separately managed cleanup area.
Brass foundry removalMarsh ValveMarsh Valve adds a completed federal removal and state no-further-action record to the Dunkirk metals corridor.
Locomotive, steel, and aluminum propertyClosed Alumax ExtrusionsAlumax shares the Roberts Road industrial landscape while retaining its own chlorinated-solvent remedy and monitoring record.
Dunkirk industrial cleanup and redevelopment
Steel, alloy, locomotive, petroleum, manufactured-gas, and other industrial properties form a layered Dunkirk cleanup history. Each marker represents its own official record.
Niagara Motors documents drums, petroleum and lead-affected soil on a former industrial property.
Locomotive and steel-reclamation propertyRoblin SteelRoblin occupies part of the former American Locomotive industrial landscape.
Large specialty-steel cleanupAlTech Specialty SteelAlTech represents a century-scale manufacturing and phased-remediation property.
Active alloy facility cleanupSpecial MetalsSpecial Metals is a defined cleanup area within an active manufacturing property.
Manufactured-gas plantDunkirk Former Manufactured-Gas PlantThe former gasworks adds a coal-tar and groundwater cleanup near Dunkirk's downtown industrial waterfront.