cleanup · Niagara County
Vanadium Corporation of America Site
Niagara
Large former ferroalloy-production and disposal property divided into three cleanup units. Historic slag, dust, ash, cinders, lime-like waste, and related fill were consolidated, capped, collected, treated, or placed under long-term controls according to location.
The documented story
What happened here?
The Vanadium site southeast of Witmer Road originated as an approximately 150-acre ferroalloy operation. DEC divided the cleanup into the SKW/CC Metals parcel, the Airco parcel, and an eastern National Grid/New York Power Authority parcel.
Vanadium Corporation of America and successor operations disposed of wood, brick, ash, lime slag, ferrochromium-silicon slag, ferrochromium-silicon dust, and related manufacturing wastes on portions of the property.
One ferroalloy complex became three different cleanup systems
Vanadium's slag, dust, and alkaline waste reshaped 150 acres of Niagara industrial land
3 unitsseparately managed cleanup areas within the historic complex
1920s-1964
Ferroalloy production generated a landscape of specialized wastes
Operations produced and handled ferrochromium-silicon and related alloys. Disposal areas received wood, brick, ash, cinders, lime-like material, slag, and production dust, leaving large areas of fill whose composition varied by location.
1997-2006
Investigation divided the property instead of treating 150 acres as uniform
State work separated the SKW/CC Metals, Airco, and eastern utility-owned areas. On the Airco parcel, groundwater with elevated hexavalent chromium and high pH moved toward surface water and wetlands, prompting a cap followed by collection and treatment.
Long-term management
Caps, drainage, treatment, and easements became the operating system
Remedies across the units include consolidation, grading, low-permeability covers, controlled drainage, groundwater capture and treatment, monitoring, inspections, and environmental easements. Some investigated portions were removed from active boundaries while controlled areas remain under management.
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.
Hexavalent-chromium migration leads to collection and treatment beside wetlands
The Airco unit remedy capped the landfill and added groundwater interception after investigation identified affected groundwater moving toward a stream and wetland system.
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
- 1920-1964
Vanadium Corporation operated the broader property and used portions for production-waste disposal.
- 1998
An interim remedy controlled drainage and runoff on the SKW parcel and supported redefining that unit around its remaining landfill cells.
- 2000-2003
The Airco landfill was closed and capped; a groundwater collection and treatment system was added after affected groundwater was found discharging toward nearby wetlands.
- 2006-2014
DEC selected and implemented the final remedy for the eastern unit, including consolidation, grading, covers, drainage, and controls for waste and affected media.
- 2021-present
Groundwater sampling, inspections, environmental easements, and site-management obligations continued.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- DEC records identify ferrochromium dust and slag, ferromanganese slag, calcium hydroxide, fly ash, cinders, and related fill and waste piles.
- Hexavalent chromium movement from the Airco landfill toward a nearby stream and wetlands was a stated cleanup objective; collection and treatment were installed to intercept affected groundwater.
- The three units have different owners, boundaries, waste areas, and controls. Conditions documented in one unit should not automatically be assigned to the others.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Landfill closure and caps, consolidation and grading, berms and controlled drainage, groundwater collection and treatment, monitoring, inspections, and environmental easements form the remedy across the separate units.
- Some portions were removed from the active hazardous-waste-site boundary after investigation or cleanup, while the remaining controlled areas continue under site management.
Then and now
The site today
The marker represents the historic multi-unit Vanadium complex. It does not mean that all approximately 150 historic acres have the same remaining contamination or access restrictions.