cleanup · Niagara County
Griffon Park Former Municipal Landfill
Niagara Falls
A city park and boat launch built over a former municipal disposal area beside the Little Niagara River and immediately west of the 102nd Street chemical landfill. DEC investigated groundwater and the recurring orange seep in 2022 and again in June 2026.
The documented story
What happened here?
Griffon Park occupies about 10.22 acres beside the Little Niagara River. DEC's newest chronology says the property was wetland before 1938, the City of Niagara Falls used it for refuse disposal from 1949 to about 1953, and intermittent tree burning and disposal of municipal-incinerator residues and other noncombustibles continued into the early 1970s. The city developed the filled land as a park in the mid-1970s.
The former municipal dump is immediately west of the separately owned Hooker/Olin 102nd Street chemical landfill. Historical aerials show one broad altered river-edge landscape, but that appearance does not establish one shared pit, operator, or waste inventory. Government records consistently describe adjoining disposal properties with different histories.
DEC's 2021 work plan recorded occasional exposed waste along the tributary bank and pooled leachate near the boat launch. Five wells and one seep were sampled in March 2022 under the state's Inactive Landfill Initiative; fill containing glass, metal, cloth, brick, cinder, and wood extended roughly 5 to 17 feet below ground in the five borings.
Orange-red seeps near the launch have been reported repeatedly since at least 2003. The appearance prompted new public concern in 2024 and 2026. DEC attributes the material to iron-rich groundwater reaching the surface through poorly drained ground, where naturally occurring bacteria oxidize the dissolved iron.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
Before 1938
Historical records reviewed by DEC describe the future park property as wetland.
1949-about 1953
The City of Niagara Falls used the property for municipal refuse disposal.
1953-early 1970s
Intermittent burning of trees and disposal of municipal-incinerator residue and other noncombustibles reportedly continued.
Mid-1970s
The city developed the filled property into Griffon Park.
1993-1994
A state preliminary assessment found no significant hazardous-waste threat attributable to Griffon, and DEC removed it from the inactive hazardous-waste registry.
March 2022
DEC installed and sampled five monitoring wells and sampled the boat-launch seep under the Inactive Landfill Initiative.
May 2024
Visible orange staining brought renewed news coverage; DEC again attributed it to elevated iron.
June-July 2026
DEC sampled seep material and groundwater after renewed complaints and published a detailed July 29 evaluation.
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.
Orange staining at the boat ramp renews public concern
WKBW documented the visible seep and DEC's conclusion that elevated iron caused the staining. The report preserves what officials said at the time; the underlying state investigation records provide the stronger technical evidence.
WKBW 7 News ↗Renewed complaints prompt sampling and release of a detailed DEC memo
After residents again documented orange material around the launch, DEC sampled seep material and a nearby monitoring well. Its July 29 memo attributed the staining to iron-rich groundwater and bacteria while reporting the individual detections and noting that laboratory validation was not yet complete.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗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.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Municipal fill occupies much of the park, and 2022 borings encountered refuse-related material at depths of approximately 5 to 17 feet.
- DEC's 2021 work plan documented occasional exposed waste along the tributary bank and pooled leachate near the boat launch.
- In June 2026 seep material, barium and cadmium slightly exceeded the commercial soil cleanup objectives DEC used as a screening comparison; DEC stressed that those soil criteria are not directly applicable to seep material and judged the exceedances minor.
- The June 2026 groundwater sample exceeded state groundwater values for several common regional metals as well as lead and alpha-BHC. DEC noted that the groundwater is not used for drinking and predicted rapid dilution if it reaches the Little Niagara River.
- The July 2026 evaluation used unvalidated laboratory results. DEC said validation was not expected to change its overall conclusion, while acknowledging that individual values could change.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The former disposal area is covered by the developed and vegetated park surface; DEC described the cap as well vegetated and without visible subsidence or erosion in its 2021 work plan.
- Five monitoring wells installed in 2022 provide site-specific groundwater data. The same investigation sampled the recurring seep near the launch.
- DEC has investigated recurring orange staining since at least 2003 and sampled seep material and nearby groundwater again in June 2026 for VOCs, SVOCs, pesticides, PCBs, PFAS, metals, and general leachate indicators.
- The adjacent 102nd Street landfill has its own slurry wall, cap, leachate and NAPL recovery, monitoring network, and federal five-year reviews; those controls should not be presented as Griffon Park's remedy.
Then and now
The site today
Griffon remains an operating public park, playground, and boat and kayak launch over a former municipal disposal area. DEC's July 2026 conclusion was that the orange seep reflects groundwater upwelling, iron, and naturally occurring bacteria—not significant chemical contamination requiring further action.
That conclusion does not mean the site contains no landfill-related constituents. DEC expressly reported low-level constituents in subsurface soil and groundwater and specific 2026 exceedances; its risk conclusion depends on concentrations, exposure setting, groundwater use, and expected river dilution.
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.
Cayuga Island and the Little Niagara River waste-site landscape
Cayuga Island, Griffon Park, and the 102nd Street landfill occupy one altered river-edge landscape, but government records define separate disposal histories, boundaries, pathways, and investigations.
The island record covers man-made residential extensions, the separate Hennepin Avenue fill case, and the renewed West Rivershore Drive investigation.
Former municipal disposal areaGriffon Park Former Municipal LandfillGriffon Park lies directly across the Little Niagara River and has its own municipal-landfill and groundwater-seep record.
Adjoining industrial landfill complexHooker / 102nd Street LandfillThe Hooker/Olin landfill lies beside Griffon Park along the Niagara River and is governed by a separate federal containment and monitoring remedy.
Nearby but separate disposal siteLove CanalLove Canal provides essential regional history but does not establish the source or extent of fill beneath Cayuga Island.