cleanup · Chautauqua County
Marsh Valve
Dunkirk
Former brass-valve and fitting foundry where metal-bearing foundry sand and industrial structures required a federal removal action. Buildings, underground tanks, and foundry material were removed before DEC selected no further remedial action.
The documented story
What happened here?
The Brigham Road property manufactured brass valves and fittings beginning in the 1920s and operated a foundry beginning in 1941. The industrial process left metal-bearing foundry sand and related material at the site.
DEC tracks Marsh Valve as site 907023 with completed Class C status. Class C records a completed remedial program and should not be confused with an active Class 2 State Superfund site.
A brass foundry was dismantled down to native soil
Marsh Valve shows what a completed industrial removal actually removed
2003year of New York's no-further-action decision
1920s-1941 onward
Machining and casting created a compact metals landscape
The plant manufactured brass valves and fittings and later operated a foundry. Used sand and residues contained lead, copper, zinc, and other metals tied to the parcel's industrial process.
Federal removal
The response removed structures as well as contaminated material
Crews demolished the remaining building, removed underground tanks, and excavated foundry sand to native soil. The work addressed the main structures and material that had preserved the former operation.
2003-present
The site moved from active cleanup to completed status
DEC selected no further remedial action after reviewing the removal and investigation. Its completed Class C status distinguishes Marsh Valve from active Class 2 sites elsewhere in Dunkirk.
Chronology
Timeline
- 1920s onward
The property manufactured brass valves and fittings.
- 1941 onward
Foundry operations generated sand and residues containing lead, copper, zinc, and other metals.
- EPA removal
A federal removal action demolished the remaining building, removed underground tanks, and excavated foundry sand to native soil.
- 2003
DEC selected no further remedial action based on the completed removal work and investigation.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Investigations documented lead, copper, and zinc in foundry sand and fill associated with the former operation.
- The principal historical concern was the remaining industrial material and structures on the former foundry parcel, rather than a documented community-wide plume.
- The historical contamination record applies to the former foundry property; it does not describe the wider Brigham Road area.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The federal removal addressed the principal remaining industrial structures, tanks, and foundry material.
- DEC's no-further-action decision and completed classification distinguish this site from nearby properties with active remedies.
Then and now
The site today
Marsh Valve belongs in the atlas as a completed large-scale foundry removal and redevelopment history, not as an ongoing emergency.
Completed Class C status means the state remedial program is complete; it should not be displayed with the same status language as an active Class 2 cleanup.
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.
Dunkirk metals and manufacturing corridor
Former locomotive, steel-reclamation, specialty-metal, and related industrial properties form a connected manufacturing landscape whose individual remedies and present uses differ.
AlTech represents the corridor's largest and longest-running steelmaking cleanup record.
Locomotive and steel-reclamation propertyRoblin SteelThe property began within the American Locomotive Company complex and later supported steel reclamation.
Aerospace-alloy manufacturingSpecial MetalsSpecial Metals shows continued industrial use alongside a separately managed cleanup area.
Brass foundry removalMarsh ValveMarsh Valve adds a completed federal removal and state no-further-action record to the Dunkirk metals corridor.
Locomotive, steel, and aluminum propertyClosed Alumax ExtrusionsAlumax shares the Roberts Road industrial landscape while retaining its own chlorinated-solvent remedy and monitoring record.