cleanup · Niagara County
Solvent Chemical Site
Niagara Falls
Former Buffalo Avenue chemical-manufacturing and disposal site where benzene and chlorinated benzenes affected multiple groundwater zones; containment, treatment, and monitoring remain part of the remedy.
The documented story
What happened here?
The former Solvent Chemical plant at 3163 Buffalo Avenue used numerous buildings and aboveground and underground tanks for chemical manufacturing, storage, and waste handling. Benzene, chlorobenzene, and several dichloro- and trichlorobenzenes affected on-site soil and both overburden and upper-bedrock groundwater.
The cleanup record covers three connected but distinct features: the plant property, an Olin Hot Spot between the property and Gill Creek, and an 18-inch concrete storm sewer that once ran west across DuPont Drive and industrial land before discharging to the creek. The sewer was removed or abandoned in place and no longer requires routine operation and maintenance; groundwater and nonaqueous-phase liquid remain the persistent work.
New York selected the remedy in December 1996, and long-term operation began July 1, 2004. Collection systems control overburden and bedrock groundwater, extracted water receives pretreatment before permitted discharge, and a cover limits contact and infiltration. The newest reviewed periodic report documents three monitoring rounds from March 2024 through March 2025.
Chemical manufacturing left a plume in multiple groundwater zones
Solvent Chemical required containment beyond the former Buffalo Avenue plant
3 zonesshallow, intermediate, and deep groundwater considered in the remedy
Industrial operation
Solvents and chemical intermediates moved through a dense manufacturing corridor
The Buffalo Avenue property manufactured and handled organic chemicals in an area bordered by other large chemical operations. Historical storage, processing, and disposal created source areas containing benzene, chlorobenzenes, and related compounds.
1996 remedy
The state treated the site as a multi-depth groundwater problem
DEC's selected remedy addressed contaminated soil and shallow, intermediate, and deep groundwater. Recovery, treatment, source controls, and monitoring were designed to contain movement rather than rely on natural disappearance.
Long-term management
Operating systems remain part of the site's present tense
Periodic reviews track treatment performance, monitoring wells, institutional controls, and maintenance. Cleanup progress therefore means a managed system continues to intercept and evaluate contamination.
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.
Groundwater control becomes a decades-long operating system
The remedy moved from construction to operation in July 2004. Collection, pretreatment, NAPL checks and monitoring continue because chlorinated benzenes occupy more than one groundwater zone.
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
- Industrial operating era
Chemical manufacturing, tanks, waste handling, and a storm-sewer route created soil, groundwater, and drainage source areas.
- December 1996
DEC issued the Record of Decision selecting a multi-part containment and treatment remedy.
- Remedial construction
The plant property, Olin Hot Spot, and former storm sewer were addressed through groundwater control, collection, pretreatment, cover, and drainage work.
- March 2024–March 2025
The latest reviewed periodic report documents three rounds of system, groundwater, and NAPL monitoring during a 15-month transition to a new reporting schedule.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Benzene, chlorobenzene, three dichlorobenzene isomers, and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene are principal contaminants of concern.
- Dissolved contamination and nonaqueous-phase liquid occur in shallow overburden and upper-bedrock groundwater zones.
- The former storm sewer created a direct historical route toward Gill Creek, but its completed removal or abandonment is distinct from the groundwater systems that still operate.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Overburden and upper-bedrock groundwater are collected or hydraulically controlled to limit migration from the plant and Olin Hot Spot areas.
- Extracted water is pretreated before discharge, while the cover limits exposure and infiltration.
- Groundwater, NAPL, treatment performance, and engineering controls are inspected through long-term operation, maintenance, and periodic review.
Then and now
The site today
Solvent Chemical remains an active long-term remedy more than two decades after operation and maintenance began. The buildings are gone and the storm-sewer task is complete, but the groundwater and NAPL source cannot be understood as a finished excavation; protection still depends on collection, treatment, cover, monitoring, and maintenance.