cleanup · Cattaraugus County
Olean Refinery Corridor — 1641 River Street
Olean
Approximately 24.7-acre brownfield occupying part of a much larger petroleum refining and storage complex that operated from about 1876 to 1954. Investigations documented petroleum product and affected subsurface soil; state-supervised investigation and cleanup planning continue.
The documented story
What happened here?
The 1641 River Street brownfield occupies part of a larger northern Olean petroleum refining and storage complex that operated from approximately 1876 to 1954. Historical mapping shows roughly 20 large storage tanks on or near the property.
The approximately 24.7-acre parcel is divided by Interstate 86 and sits beside rail infrastructure, roads, vacant industrial land, and nearby residences.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
Circa 1876–1954
Petroleum refining, pumping, and bulk storage occupied the wider corridor.
Later decades
Most refinery structures were removed and portions of the industrial land changed ownership or use.
2020
Subsurface investigation documented petroleum product and affected soil, prompting a state spill record.
2024
The property entered New York's Brownfield Cleanup Program.
Present
Investigation and cleanup planning continue, including follow-up on a reported possible buried drum.
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.
A 25-acre refinery parcel enters public brownfield review
DEC accepted the application and opened public comment on investigation and cleanup of one defined piece of Olean's much larger former refinery corridor.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗A $6 million oil-contamination cleanup receives local tax support
Local reporting documented a sales-tax abatement for cleanup of the 25-acre property; the environmental work, rather than projected job creation, is the central significance for this history.
Olean Star ↗Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Petroleum odors, staining, elevated field readings, and mobile petroleum product were observed in multiple test pits.
- The reviewed record also identifies metals and other constituents requiring evaluation.
- A reported possible buried drum remains an investigation item and should not be presented as a confirmed disposal area until excavation or other evidence verifies it.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Brownfield investigation is defining soil and groundwater conditions and the remedy needed for reuse.
- Because the property remains in investigation and planning, future excavation, disposal quantities, and land-use controls should be added only after DEC selects or approves them.
Then and now
The site today
This is an active brownfield investigation, not a completed cleanup. It anchors a linked Olean refinery-corridor history.
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.