cleanup · Chautauqua County
Lexington Machining
Lakewood
Former die-casting and machining plant operated from the 1950s into 2014. Solvents used for degreasing affected soil and groundwater; active remediation was followed by groundwater monitoring, land-use controls, and site management.
The documented story
What happened here?
The Lexington Machining property in Lakewood supported die casting and machining from the 1950s until 2014. Metalworking operations used oils and chlorinated solvents, including degreasing chemicals that could move through soil into groundwater.
Investigation found a solvent-centered subsurface problem requiring active remediation followed by long-term monitoring. The remedy did not excavate contaminated material or install a permanent treatment plant. Instead, crews injected emulsified edible oil and nanoscale zero-valent iron into saturated soil in October and November 2006, encouraging breakdown of volatile organic compounds and creating a treatment barrier against northward migration.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
1950s–2014
Die-casting and machining operations occupied the property.
Investigation
Soil and groundwater studies identified chlorinated-solvent impacts associated with degreasing.
October–November 2006
Crews injected emulsified edible oil and nanoscale zero-valent iron to promote in-place breakdown of groundwater VOCs and form a barrier to northward migration.
March 2014
A soil-vapor-intrusion evaluation examined the occupied site structures.
Monitoring phase
The site moved from active treatment into groundwater monitoring and controlled use.
Present
Periodic review evaluates monitoring results and the continuing effectiveness of institutional controls.
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.
Sampling turns a small machining plant into a long-term solvent-management site
Investigation traced chlorinated compounds through defined production areas and groundwater, followed by active treatment, monitoring, cover and institutional controls documented in the site-management plan.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Chlorinated solvents used in degreasing affected soil and groundwater.
- Machining oils and other industrial materials were evaluated as part of the facility record.
- Groundwater impacts are confined to the investigated site and plume information; they should not be generalized to Lakewood.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Enhanced in-situ bioremediation treated affected groundwater without removing contaminated material from the site.
- Groundwater monitoring tracks concentration and plume trends after active treatment.
- A maintained cover limits contact with soil remaining beneath the compressor room, die-casting area, and vibratory-process areas.
- Commercial or industrial use restrictions, groundwater-use controls, vapor evaluation for future buildings, and a site-management plan govern residual contamination.
Then and now
The site today
Lexington Machining is in the long-term management phase after active cleanup. Continued monitoring is how the state checks the treatment barrier and confirms that the cover and legal controls remain protective; completed construction does not mean unrestricted use.
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.
Southern Tier small-industry cleanups
Foundries, furniture and veneer works, machining plants, dry cleaners, and rural disposal sites show that Western New York's cleanup history extends well beyond its largest waterfront factories.
Farwell Road represents a managed hazardous-waste landfill outside the major urban industrial corridors.
Municipal landfillCarroll LandfillCarroll connects local waste disposal to wetlands, Conewango Creek, and long-term treatment.
Tool-manufacturing complexD.C. Rollforms / Proto ToolProto Tool brings electroplating, heat treatment, degreasing, and river-edge remediation into the collection.
Small solvent siteC&B Dry CleanersThe dry cleaner demonstrates how a very small parcel can create a consequential subsurface cleanup.
Coatings and solvent siteEssex / Hope SiteEssex / Hope documents a long-running coatings property with an amended remedy and a separately investigated downgradient area.
Chlorinated-solvent groundwater cleanupDowcraft — South Dow StreetDowcraft connects former manufacturing and vapor degreasing to continuing groundwater treatment and monitoring.
Municipal and industrial-waste landfillJamestown City LandfillThe former city landfill preserves Jamestown's documented municipal and industrial-disposal history while clearly stating its current Class 3 status.
Bronze foundry cleanupEllison Bronze CompanyEllison Bronze adds metal-bearing foundry material, stabilization, containment, and continuing management to the Falconer record.
Petroleum and veneer worksBush IndustriesBush Industries layers early petroleum use with later wood-products manufacturing.
Foundry and machine shopRandolph FoundryRandolph adds discarded foundry sand, drums, and asbestos to the southern-tier industrial record.
Die-casting and machining plantLexington MachiningLexington documents solvent use and long-term groundwater management at a smaller manufacturing plant.