cleanup · Chautauqua County
Keywell / Vac-Air
Frewsburg / Town of Carroll
Former high-grade scrap-metal processing property where TCE was used for degreasing. The Class 4 remedy includes groundwater treatment, a barrier wall, paved cover, drainage controls, access restrictions, monitoring, and continuing site management near Conewango Creek.
The documented story
What happened here?
Before 1969 the property was used for wafer-board manufacturing. Vac-Air then sorted, cleaned, and packaged high-grade scrap metal, using TCE for degreasing; Keywell acquired the operation in 1987 and continued high-grade metal processing.
A federal appellate record describes 1970s handling practices in unusually direct terms: TCE sludge was placed in ponds or pits and sometimes spread to dry before off-site handling, while TCE oil was occasionally spread on plant roads for dust suppression. Deteriorated buried drum remnants were encountered during a 1985 excavation.
The property lies near Conewango Creek and across Falconer Road from a public-water supply well, making groundwater containment and monitoring central to the remedy.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
Before 1969
The property supported wafer-board manufacturing.
1969-late 1970s
Vac-Air processed and solvent-cleaned high-grade scrap metal; court testimony later described on-site TCE sludge and oil handling practices.
1985
Excavation encountered deteriorated remnants of buried drums associated with TCE-bearing waste.
1987
Keywell acquired the facility.
1996
DEC selected a remedy following investigation and feasibility work.
Present
Groundwater treatment, monitoring, cover and barrier maintenance, and access controls continue.
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.
Court testimony documents TCE sludge pits, ground drying and road spreading
The federal appellate record describes solvent sludge placed in ponds or pits, spread to dry, and TCE oil used at times for dust suppression, followed by discovery of deteriorated buried drums and groundwater concerns near a public supply.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ↗Local officials receive permission to pursue controlled redevelopment
After years of cleanup and monitoring, DEC allowed the town and county to proceed with development planning, while the barrier, cover, treatment and site-management system remained part of any future occupancy.
The Post-Journal ↗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
- TCE and related volatile organic compounds affected groundwater.
- The waste record includes spent TCE, TCE sludge, and lubricating and hydraulic oils.
- The documented sludge pits, ground drying and dust-suppression use explain multiple potential routes from waste handling to soil and groundwater without proving an exposure at every nearby property.
- Periodic reviews have continued to evaluate groundwater and soil-vapor conditions.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- A groundwater treatment system, barrier wall, paved cap, subsurface barriers, stormwater controls, fencing, restrictions, and monitoring form the managed remedy.
- The combination of hydraulic treatment, physical barriers, and cover maintenance shows that the remedy controls both groundwater movement and contact with remaining material.
Then and now
The site today
DEC classifies the closed cleanup as Class 4, meaning the remedy depends on continuing site management.
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.
Jamestown chlorinated-solvent cleanup sites
Dry cleaning, tool production, and other industrial degreasing created separate chlorinated-solvent cleanups around Jamestown. This collection compares processes and remedies; it does not assert one shared plume.
Anderson Cleaners is a Class 2 soil and groundwater cleanup at Hunt Road.
Separate dry-cleaning cleanupC&B Dry CleanersC&B is a separate compact dry-cleaning site with its own investigated area and controls.
Tool-manufacturing cleanupD.C. Rollforms / Proto ToolProto Tool used vapor degreasing alongside forging, plating, machining, and heat-treatment processes.
Scrap-metal degreasing cleanupKeywell / Vac-AirThe nearby Frewsburg property used TCE in high-grade scrap-metal processing and has a separate managed groundwater remedy.