cleanup · Erie County
PVS Chemicals
Buffalo
Sulfur-chemical plant at 55 Lee Street developed within the former Allied Chemical complex and purchased by PVS in 1981. Historical sulfuric-acid, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, and related operations created a separate soil-and-groundwater cleanup record from neighboring Buffalo Color; the defined property remains an active Class 2 State Superfund site.
The documented story
What happened here?
The sulfur-chemical plant at 55 Lee Street developed within the larger Schoellkopf and Allied Chemical manufacturing landscape along the Buffalo River. Allied's Industrial Chemical Division made sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, anhydrous ammonia, diethanolamine, and related products while the neighboring divisions developed the dye works now mapped separately as Buffalo Color.
PVS Chemicals purchased Allied's sulfuric-acid and sulfur-manufacturing facilities in 1981. Honeywell, as Allied's corporate successor, retained environmental access rights, illustrating why current plant ownership and responsibility for historical cleanup work are not necessarily the same.
New York lists the defined property as active Class 2 State Superfund Site 915004. The historic-waste and groundwater program is separate from air, water, hazardous-material, and operating permits that regulate the active plant.
Sulfur chemistry continued while an older disposal system was dismantled
PVS inherited production from Allied and a groundwater problem beneath the Buffalo River corridor
1930-1977documented period of liquid-waste disposal in the unlined pit
1905-1981
Successive chemical companies built a sulfur-production district
Contact Process, National Aniline, General Chemical, Allied, and related predecessors operated within the larger Lee Street complex. Products included sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, anhydrous ammonia, and diethanolamine before PVS acquired the sulfur facilities in 1981.
1930-1977
A seepage pit connected routine disposal to soil and groundwater
Allied-era operations used an unlined pit for nitric and sulfuric acid waste, sulfur drainings, and cadmium-bearing rinses. The pit was excavated in 1977, but later investigations found groundwater concerns involving acidity, metals, arsenic, cadmium, chlorobenzene, and sulfuric acid.
1990s-present
Pipe replacement, treatment, and monitoring accompanied continued production
Enforcement records described releases associated with leaking pipes, valves, equipment failures, and containment. Subsequent measures included aboveground piping, replaced equipment, groundwater monitoring, treatment, liners, and removal of older pipes while chemical manufacturing continued.
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.
Acid releases and failing containment produce enforcement and groundwater work
State and Buffalo River records describe leaking pipes, broken valves, equipment failures, air and water violations, replacement equipment, a treatment facility, and quarterly groundwater monitoring.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗Odor and sulfur-dioxide concerns change how neighboring athletic land can be used
DEC temporarily stopped operations in 2021 after emissions concerns near athletic fields; later reporting documented continued debate over whether intensive recreation was compatible beside an operating sulfur-chemical plant.
WKBW ↗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
- Allied Chemical era
The Industrial Chemical Division produced sulfurous and other inorganic chemicals at 55 Lee Street as part of the larger Buffalo chemical complex.
- 1981
PVS purchased the sulfuric-acid and sulfur-manufacturing facilities from Allied Chemical.
- 1985–1986
DEC placed the property in the inactive hazardous-waste program after groundwater results and investigated former process and waste-management areas.
- 2002–2003
A state settlement was followed by additional soil and groundwater investigation and commitments involving treatment, piping safeguards, and monitoring.
- Present
Sulfuric-acid manufacturing continues while the Class 2 cleanup record and current operating permits proceed on separate regulatory tracks.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Historic Allied operations used an unlined liquid-waste seepage pit and handled acidic wastewater and metal-bearing rinses; DEC records and later natural-resource review identify these as part of the site's legacy investigation.
- Groundwater beneath the property flows generally toward the Buffalo River. Historical investigations evaluated pH, metals, and chemical-operation-related groundwater conditions rather than treating the entire river corridor as one source.
- The state registry identifies hazardous-waste impacts significant enough to require action at the defined 55 Lee Street site.
- Conditions at PVS should not be merged with Buffalo Color or other nearby South Buffalo chemical properties without site-specific evidence.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Historical measures included excavation of the former seepage pit, investigation of soil and groundwater, and replacement or secondary containment of portions of chemical-transfer infrastructure.
- The 2002 settlement required additional investigation, water-treatment improvements, piping safeguards, and quarterly groundwater monitoring; current status must be read from the latest site file rather than inferred from the settlement date.
- Active industrial permits regulate current operations but do not substitute for the historical cleanup program.
- Final controls and completion status should be updated from DEC decision and construction documents as the remedy progresses.
Then and now
The site today
PVS remains an active industrial and remedial property. The atlas presents the verified Class 2 status and avoids treating the entire Lee Street or Buffalo River corridor as a single contamination source.
Research status
Open questions
- Locate the latest remedial investigation, interim-action, groundwater-trend, and registry-classification documents in DEC's Site 915004 file.
- Keep current sulfur-dioxide permit or enforcement information in a dated operating-record section rather than merging it with the historic Superfund narrative.