cleanup · Cattaraugus County
Olean Refinery Corridor — 251 Homer Street
Olean
Former refinery-area brownfield where cleanup removed more than 10,000 feet of abandoned refinery piping, approximately 52,000 tons of petroleum-affected soil and approximately 2,000 tons of arsenic-affected soil before controlled commercial reuse.
The documented story
What happened here?
The 251 Homer Street property is part of Olean's former refinery and petroleum-handling landscape. Its cleanup provides unusually concrete documentation of how buried refinery infrastructure, petroleum-affected soil, arsenic, and creek sediment were addressed.
The parcel's remedy is one completed part of the larger refinery corridor; its excavation totals and controls should not be assigned to 1641 River Street or other neighboring properties.
A buried refinery was taken apart pipe by pipe
At 251 Homer Street, cleanup exposed the physical skeleton of Olean's oil era
52,000 tonsapproximately, petroleum-affected soil removed
About 1876-1954
Refining made Olean a petroleum center
Refinery, storage, transfer, and pipeline systems extended across a broad industrial district rather than one modern tax parcel. The Homer Street property inherited subsurface infrastructure and residual impacts from that shared operating landscape.
Investigation and excavation
More than ten thousand feet of pipe remained underground
Cleanup removed over 10,000 feet of abandoned refinery piping, demonstrating how much of the former operation survived below grade after the visible plant disappeared.
Completed remedy
Soil removal made controlled reuse possible
Approximately 52,000 tons of petroleum-affected soil and about 2,000 tons of arsenic-affected soil were removed. Remaining controls and the cleanup boundary define the commercial reuse standard.
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
- Historic refinery era
Refinery piping and petroleum operations occupied the Homer Street area.
- 2012–2016
Investigation and interim cleanup removed piping and large volumes of affected soil.
- Remedial completion
Creek restoration, cover installation, and legal controls completed the physical remedy for restricted reuse.
- 2017
DEC certified that the Brownfield Cleanup Program requirements had been achieved.
- Present
Commercial-use controls, an environmental easement, cover maintenance, and site management continue.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Petroleum contamination affected soil and portions of creek soil or sediment.
- Arsenic-affected soil was identified and removed in designated areas.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- More than 10,000 feet of refinery piping, approximately 52,000 tons of petroleum-affected soil, and approximately 2,000 tons of arsenic-affected soil were removed.
- Two Mile Creek was restored after affected soil and sediment removal.
- A site-wide cover, environmental easement, groundwater restrictions, and a site-management plan support restricted reuse.
Then and now
The site today
Major remedial construction is complete, but the property remains restricted to commercial or industrial use under continuing controls.
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.
Olean groundwater and refinery history
Olean's regional TCE cleanup and its historic petroleum-refinery corridor are geographically related research stories with different sources, contaminants, boundaries, and remedies.
The Superfund site coordinates multiple industrial source properties and municipal or private water-supply actions across a broad groundwater study area.
Active refinery-area brownfieldOlean Refinery Corridor — 1641 River StreetRiver Street preserves the history of the larger former refinery and remains under Brownfield Cleanup Program investigation.
Completed refinery-area cleanupOlean Refinery Corridor — 251 Homer StreetHomer Street documents large-scale piping and contaminated-soil removal within the same broader historic refinery corridor.