cleanup · Cattaraugus County
Machias Gravel Pit
Machias
Former gravel-pit storage area where approximately 600 drums of Motorola industrial waste were reportedly placed in 1978. Records describe solvents, acids, epoxy wastes and cutting oils; removal, soil-vapor extraction, groundwater treatment and long-term monitoring followed.
The documented story
What happened here?
In 1978 an inactive town gravel pit on Very Road reportedly stored about 600 drums of industrial waste from Motorola's Arcade plant. Records identify suspected epoxy resins, acids, solvents and cutting oils; some oil was reportedly used for road-dust control.
Early removal records account for 184 drums, while later geophysical investigation did not find evidence of additional buried drums in the investigated area.
A borrowed excavation became a one-time industrial drum destination
Approximately six hundred drums of Motorola waste were reportedly placed in the Machias pit
~600 drumsMotorola industrial waste reportedly placed in 1978
1978
A single disposal episode created a long environmental record
Drums associated with Motorola industrial operations were reportedly placed in the gravel-pit storage area. The waste inventory included solvents, acids, epoxy material, and cutting oils.
Investigation and removal
Excavation addressed containers and the most accessible source material
State work characterized the drum area, removed containers and affected soil, and evaluated volatile compounds that had moved beyond the original disposal features.
Long-term remedy
Vapor extraction and groundwater treatment outlasted the drums
Soil-vapor extraction, groundwater treatment, monitoring, and periodic review addressed remaining subsurface solvent impacts after the visible containers were gone.
News record
Major news events
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An inactive town gravel pit becomes a temporary industrial-drum site
Historical records reported approximately 600 drums from Motorola's Arcade plant, but later documentation accounts for 184 removed drums and does not verify the disposition of the entire estimate.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation record ↗Some waste oil from the drum shipment is reportedly spread on town roads
The site-management record says town personnel reportedly used some received oils for dust control. It also states that available records do not establish how many drums were used this way or the final disposition of every drum in the original estimate.
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.
Chronology
Timeline
- March–September 1978
Approximately 600 drums were reportedly stored at the inactive gravel pit.
- 1986–1988
DEC and the town removed documented drums and attempted limited soil cleanup.
- 1991–1992
Investigation defined TCE and 1,1,1-TCA groundwater impacts and DEC selected a remedy.
- 1993–1999
Air sparging and soil-vapor extraction removed volatile contaminants from the source area.
- Present
Groundwater monitoring, use restrictions, and a phytoremediation barrier continue.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- TCE and 1,1,1-TCA were principal groundwater contaminants.
- The industrial-waste description includes suspected epoxy resins, acids, solvents, and cutting oils, but the record does not establish that every reported drum contained the same material.
- The complete disposition of every drum described in the original estimate is not documented.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Drum removal, soil-vapor extraction, air sparging, monitored natural attenuation, groundwater-use restrictions, monitoring, and a planted groundwater barrier addressed the site.
- The phytoremediation barrier supplements—not replaces—the earlier mechanical source treatment and continuing groundwater monitoring.
Then and now
The site today
The Class 4 remedy remains managed. The record documents substantial cleanup while preserving uncertainty about the original drum inventory.
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 landfills and disposal sites
These rural and small-community properties show different waste-disposal histories and cleanup stages. They are a comparative collection, not evidence of a shared waste stream.
The gravel pit received an estimated 600 drums from an industrial plant and later required solvent-source and groundwater remediation.
Landfill under characterizationIschua LandfillThe former landfill's mixed waste history and emerging-contaminant findings remain under state investigation.
Managed hazardous-waste landfillFarwell Road LandfillFarwell Road is a closed county disposal site governed by engineering and institutional controls.
Municipal and construction landfillCarroll LandfillCarroll adds a separate leachate, groundwater, wetland, and long-term management record near Frewsburg.