cleanup · Erie County
Vibratech
Buffalo
A 1927 East Delavan factory used by arms, hydraulic, and vibration-control manufacturers left a concentrated degreasing-solvent source beside a mixed residential and industrial neighborhood.
The documented story
What happened here?
The factory at 537 East Delavan Avenue was built in 1927 and expanded repeatedly through the Second World War. Buffalo Arms, British Arms, several Houdaille companies, and Vibratech used the complex before an automobile-recycling operation occupied it. Vibratech manufactured vibration dampers and rotary shock absorbers for the truck and railroad industries.
Metal manufacturing relied on degreasing solvents to remove oil and grease from parts. A 1993 investigation found volatile organic compounds in the rear railroad-spur area between the plant and boiler room. DEC attributed the concentrated source to repeated incidental spills of used solvent rather than to one documented catastrophic release.
The setting is a flat urban lake plain with shallow fractured Onondaga limestone beneath only a few feet of fill and clay. Groundwater occupies fractures near the top of the bedrock, allowing dissolved solvents to move differently from contamination held in shallow soil. Residences lie east of the property, with industrial and commercial uses on the other sides.
Scajaquada Creek is roughly 1,100 feet south and receives much of the area's stormwater, but the reviewed decision centered the remedy on the plant's source soil and groundwater. A nearby waterway should not be described as contaminated by Vibratech without sampling that establishes that connection.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
1927–1940s
The factory was constructed and enlarged for a succession of arms, hydraulic, and industrial manufacturers.
Before 1993
Vibratech manufactured vibration-control equipment and used solvents to degrease metal parts.
1993–1995
Environmental assessments, soil sampling, and groundwater investigation defined an approximately 6,250-square-foot source area near the rear railroad spur.
1995–1997
DEC authorized an interim soil-vapor-extraction action, followed by the final groundwater remedy and post-remediation monitoring plan.
2008–2009
EPA and DEC undertook additional cleanup work, showing that the early source treatment had not ended every environmental obligation at the property.
2012–2016
Renewed state investigation and a later consent order returned the property to active remedial review.
Present
The site remains in the State Superfund record; current status must follow the newest investigation, design, and monitoring documents.
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.
New York selects groundwater treatment after extracting solvent from shallow source soil
DEC's decision followed an interim soil-vapor-extraction project and required continued treatment and monitoring of chlorinated solvents in fractured-bedrock groundwater beneath the former manufacturing area.
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.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Contaminants identified in the early record include 1,1,1-TCA, TCE, dichloroethanes, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, vinyl chloride, toluene, and xylenes associated with degreasing and petroleum handling.
- The shallow-soil source and fractured-bedrock groundwater were separate parts of the problem: extraction could remove volatile material from excavated or accessible soil while dissolved contamination still required groundwater treatment and monitoring.
- The 1997 decision described the source area behind the manufacturing building, not the entire East Delavan neighborhood.
- Residential proximity made vapor and groundwater pathways important to evaluate, but a contaminant's presence beneath the industrial property does not by itself establish indoor-air exposure in surrounding buildings.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The interim action excavated source-area soil and treated it through an ex-situ soil-vapor-extraction system before backfilling or disposal under the approved program.
- The final decision addressed remaining groundwater contamination through treatment and a monitoring program designed to track volatile compounds in the shallow bedrock zone.
- EPA and DEC later performed additional cleanup and reopened investigation under a 2016 order, so the 1997 remedy should be presented as an early chapter rather than the final word.
- Any present-day claim about vapor controls, groundwater trends, or unrestricted use requires the latest approved remedial and monitoring record.
Then and now
The site today
The property remains a Class 2 State Superfund site. The historical source work is documented, but current protectiveness depends on the later investigation, remedial design, and monitoring record.