cleanup · Chautauqua County
Special Metals
Dunkirk
Aerospace-alloy manufacturing property where petroleum-contaminated soil and an underground tank were discovered during expansion. State-supervised removal and continuing institutional controls manage the affected portion of the active industrial site.
The documented story
What happened here?
Special Metals is part of Dunkirk's specialty-alloy manufacturing tradition, producing high-performance metals associated with demanding industrial and aerospace applications. The cleanup record concerns a defined area within an active manufacturing property rather than the whole plant.
During facility expansion, workers encountered an underground storage tank and petroleum-affected soil. The discovery triggered a state-supervised interim action so construction and industrial use could proceed with the affected source removed and residual conditions controlled.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
Manufacturing era
Specialty-alloy production developed at the Dunkirk industrial property.
Expansion discovery
An underground tank and petroleum-contaminated soil were found during construction work.
Interim remedial measure
The tank and affected soil were removed under DEC oversight.
Present
The active industrial facility continues to operate subject to institutional controls for the remediated area.
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.
Plant expansion uncovers a buried petroleum source
A construction discovery—not a routine closure—brought the localized cleanup into public view: an underground tank and petroleum-affected soil were removed while the larger alloy plant remained active.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ↗Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Petroleum contamination was associated with a former underground storage tank.
- The affected area was localized within a much larger active alloy-manufacturing property.
- The cleanup record does not establish uniform contamination across the entire Special Metals facility.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The underground tank was removed and petroleum-affected soil was excavated for proper disposal.
- Confirmation sampling documented the limits and outcome of the removal.
- Institutional controls and soil-management requirements govern future disturbance in the controlled area.
Then and now
The site today
Special Metals remains an active industrial site with a completed, location-specific petroleum cleanup. The atlas keeps that remedial area distinct from the company's broader manufacturing history.
That distinction is practical for readers and workers: continuing controls concern the defined former-tank area and any future soil disturbance there, not an unsupported claim that the entire operating plant has the same condition.
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.
Dunkirk industrial cleanup and redevelopment
Steel, alloy, locomotive, petroleum, manufactured-gas, and other industrial properties form a layered Dunkirk cleanup history. Each marker represents its own official record.
Niagara Motors documents drums, petroleum and lead-affected soil on a former industrial property.
Locomotive and steel-reclamation propertyRoblin SteelRoblin occupies part of the former American Locomotive industrial landscape.
Large specialty-steel cleanupAlTech Specialty SteelAlTech represents a century-scale manufacturing and phased-remediation property.
Active alloy facility cleanupSpecial MetalsSpecial Metals is a defined cleanup area within an active manufacturing property.
Manufactured-gas plantDunkirk Former Manufactured-Gas PlantThe former gasworks adds a coal-tar and groundwater cleanup near Dunkirk's downtown industrial waterfront.