cleanup · Chautauqua County
Jamestown Brewery Brownfield
Jamestown
Downtown property historically used by a photo facility, dry cleaner, taxi company, automotive repair shop, and parking garage. Deep chlorinated-solvent contamination required major excavation, groundwater treatment, vapor mitigation, and continuing controls; recent site-well monitoring also documented benzene, PFOA, and PFOS above applicable groundwater values.
The documented story
What happened here?
The DEC cleanup name reflects a redevelopment proposal, not a documented historic brewery operation. Commercial uses since the 1880s included photography, dry cleaning, vehicle repair, taxi service, and parking.
DEC determined that the site posed a significant threat and created a related off-site record. That investigation is linked to this parent page rather than shown as another pin.
A redevelopment name concealed a different commercial past
Jamestown Brewery was shaped by photography, dry cleaning, taxis, and automotive work
2,014 tonsapproximately, affected soil and fill removed in 2018
1886 onward
Successive businesses left a layered urban property
Historical records identify a photography operation, dry cleaner, taxi company, automotive repair, and parking garage. WNYAtlas uses those documented activities rather than repeating the redevelopment name as an earlier brewery history.
2018-2021
Excavation addressed the source while vapor controls protected the building
About 2,014 tons of soil and fill were removed, including roughly 430 tons characterized as hazardous. A sub-slab depressurization system, cover, easement, and groundwater restrictions became parts of the final brownfield remedy.
2022-present
The remaining story is groundwater treatment and verification
In-situ treatment, vapor mitigation, monitoring, and periodic review continue. Recent site wells contained benzene, PFOA, and PFOS above applicable groundwater values, alongside the established chlorinated-solvent problem.
Atlas classification: environmental detection, agency investigation.
PFAS activity, investigation, or detection is documented in the cited site record. That documentation does not by itself establish off-site exposure or a health effect in any individual.
Compounds and evidence
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Detected
Medium: groundwater
Evidence limit: The listed compounds occurred in particular wells and sampling rounds; they were not uniformly present across the property. The record does not identify APFO as the original material or attribute every PFAS to one former tenant.
C8 and APFO: PFOA is often called C8. APFO is the ammonium salt of PFOA, but a PFOA environmental result does not identify APFO as the original product or prove where it came from.
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.
Health context
Why PFAS are a long-term concern
PFAS are a large family of manufactured chemicals. Many are highly persistent, and some can remain in the environment or build up in people and animals over time. Persistence can allow releases to move through groundwater, surface water, waste systems, food, and fish long after the original use has ended.
Human studies have found associations between increased exposure to certain PFAS and higher cholesterol, lower antibody response to some vaccines, changes in liver enzymes, pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia, small decreases in birth weight, and kidney or testicular cancer for PFOA. Evidence differs by compound, and research continues. A site detection does not show that a particular person was exposed or that PFAS caused an illness.
Chronology
Timeline
- 1886 onward
Successive commercial uses occupied the downtown parcel.
- 2018
About 2,014 tons of affected soil and fill were removed and a sub-slab depressurization system was installed.
- 2021
DEC selected the final brownfield remedy after evaluating the chlorinated-solvent source and off-site migration concerns.
- 2022–present
DEC selected and oversees groundwater treatment, vapor mitigation, monitoring, and site management.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- DEC identified PCE, TCE, dichloroethene, vinyl chloride, petroleum-related compounds, and PFAS in investigated soil, groundwater, or vapor.
- Recent periodic-review monitoring documented benzene, PFOA, and PFOS above applicable groundwater standards or guidance values in specific site monitoring wells.
- These results describe groundwater monitoring at the cleanup site; they are not evidence of contamination in the public drinking-water supply, which is separate from the site groundwater.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Removal included approximately 430 tons characterized as hazardous; in-situ injections address the remaining chlorinated-solvent plume.
- A cover, active vapor system, easement, groundwater restriction, excavation plan, and periodic review remain part of the remedy.
Then and now
The site today
DEC classifies the brownfield work as completed, while groundwater, vapor, and institutional controls continue under site management.
The project name should not be used as evidence that a brewery historically operated here; the documented uses are the commercial and automotive businesses listed in the record.