radiological · Niagara County
Upper Mountain Road Radiation Site
Lewiston
Radioactive fill was removed from an access road and portions of two adjacent residential properties between 2020 and 2023.
The documented story
What happened here?
The Upper Mountain Road removal addressed radioactive industrial slag used as fill along an access road and at two neighboring residential properties in Lewiston. EPA traced the concern to the same regional history of low-level radiological slag identified by aerial surveillance and later ground investigation.
Cleanup occurred in phases because the affected material crossed different property settings: a culvert and gravel drive serving an access road, followed by soil beneath basement areas and in yards at two homes.
Radioactive fill crossed from an access road into residential ground
Two families temporarily left home while crews removed radiological material
2020-2023period spanning road, basement, and yard removals
Survey and confirmation
A regional aerial signal became a property-level investigation
The location was among Niagara County anomalies traced through federal and state radiological surveys. Ground scanning and sampling narrowed that broad signal to specific areas of fill rather than declaring the surrounding neighborhood uniformly affected.
2020
The first removal addressed the access road
EPA excavated contaminated material from a culvert crossing and portions of a gravel driveway serving a wooded lot and residence. Clean backfill restored the disturbed areas after the material was removed.
2021-2023
Residential work required temporary relocation
Two adjoining properties required additional excavation beneath basement areas and in exterior yards. Both families were temporarily relocated during removal and restoration, making this one of the clearest documented household experiences in the regional radiological program.
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 homeowner watches investigators map radioactive hotspots in a driveway
Investigative reporting made the property-level consequence visible years before removal: a residential access road and adjoining yards required federal assessment, while the source and extent still had to be established by sampling.
Investigative Post / Buffalo Toronto Public Media ↗EPA removes radioactive fill from an access road and two residential properties
Excavation, verification sampling, clean replacement material, and restoration addressed the defined removal areas without labeling every neighboring property contaminated.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ↗Chronology
Timeline
- Early 1960s
Industrial slag is believed to have been placed as fill at specific Niagara County properties.
- 1978
A federal aerial survey identified low-level radiological anomalies in the Niagara region.
- 2020
EPA completed removal and clean backfill at the culvert crossing and portions of the gravel access road.
- 2021–2023
EPA conducted two additional cleanups at adjacent homes, including soil beneath basement areas and in exterior yards.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Radioactive slag fill was documented in portions of an access road, culvert area, driveway, residential yards, and beneath basement areas.
- The location of material beneath occupied homes required temporary relocation during excavation and restoration.
- The documented removals are property-specific and do not establish that all Upper Mountain Road properties contain similar fill.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- EPA excavated radiological material and transported it for appropriate off-site disposal.
- Excavated areas received clean backfill and surface or structural restoration.
- The two families were temporarily relocated while work occurred beneath and around their homes.
Then and now
The site today
EPA reports the access-road and two residential cleanups as complete. The case remains important because it shows that historic fill can occur beneath later residential construction and that investigation boundaries must follow evidence rather than street names.
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.
Niagara regional radiological record
Federal storage, industrial processing, vicinity-property cleanup, and later residential or public-property investigations form a connected regional research record.
The storage site is the principal federal property in a wider network of material handling, containment, and vicinity-property work.
Vicinity propertiesNiagara Falls Storage Site Vicinity PropertiesThese properties are managed separately where eligible material lies beyond the principal storage-site boundary.
Wartime industrial facilityElectro Metallurgical CompanyElectro Metallurgical represents a separate Manhattan Project-era industrial operation within the Niagara record.
Investigated propertyNiagara Falls Boulevard Radiation SiteThis location was identified through later radiological investigation rather than treated as part of the NFSS parcel itself.
Public-property responseDonovan Head Start Slag RemovalThe Head Start response documents investigation and removal at a public-use property.
Investigated propertyUpper Mountain Road Radiation SiteUpper Mountain Road is one of several separately bounded locations in the regional assessment record.
Vicinity investigationHoly Trinity Cemetery VicinityThe cemetery vicinity record is linked by regional radiological assessment, not by a claim that every property shares one source.
Regional assessmentNiagara–Erie Residential Radiological AssessmentThe assessment provides the umbrella research context for evaluating multiple residential and public locations.
Radiological-map connection
Place this site in the wider material history
The separate radiological investigation map distinguishes producers, processors, storage, the 100 historical survey records, federal remediation, and current assessment coverage.
Linked research mapOpen the radiological investigation →