cleanup · Chautauqua County
Weber-Knapp Company
Jamestown
Historic manufacturing property on Chandler Street where chlorinated solvents affected environmental media. DEC records an installed clean-stone sediment cover and an environmental easement over approximately 2.65 acres.
The documented story
What happened here?
The Weber-Knapp property at 441 Chandler Street is part of Jamestown's dense Chadakoin River manufacturing district. Industrial and residential uses occupied the area by at least 1902; Weber-Knapp acquired portions beginning in 1909, and a factory built around 1910 grew through repeated additions into an approximately 105,000-square-foot complex.
A trichloroethylene vapor degreaser operated from about 1969 to 1993 and was connected to a 2,000-gallon solvent tank. Later investigation identified chlorinated-solvent contamination in overburden and bedrock groundwater, together with petroleum product and 1,4-dioxane concerns.
Chronology in context
Turning points in the public record
1902–1910
Earlier neighborhood uses gave way to Weber-Knapp acquisition and construction of the principal factory.
1910s–1960s
The plant expanded, absorbing former dwellings and a section of Morse Avenue into the industrial complex.
Circa 1969–1993
A TCE vapor degreaser and associated solvent tank operated at the facility.
2019 onward
The property entered New York's Brownfield Cleanup Program for investigation and remediation.
2022 onward
A groundwater extraction and treatment interim measure began operating while the broader remedy advanced.
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 treatment begins beside the Chadakoin River
Brownfield work at the historic factory installed groundwater extraction and treatment and a clean-stone sediment cover, joining upland solvent control with a distinct river-edge remedy and long-term easement.
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
- TCE and related chlorinated compounds affected soil and groundwater, including fractured bedrock.
- Investigation also identified light non-aqueous-phase liquid and 1,4-dioxane in parts of the groundwater system.
- The Chadakoin River edge and sediment required controls separate from the interior manufacturing source areas.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Groundwater extraction and treatment began as an interim remedial measure in July 2022.
- The remedy includes source-area work, building and vapor considerations, groundwater management, and a clean-stone sediment cover.
- An environmental easement and site-management obligations govern the approximately 2.65-acre cleanup property.
Then and now
The site today
Weber-Knapp remains a layered manufacturing and cleanup property beside the Chadakoin River. Active treatment and engineered controls are signs of a functioning remedy, not evidence that every deep-groundwater impact has disappeared.
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.
Western New York sediment controls
These sites contain documented sediment remedies or affected sediment areas. They are a comparative research collection, not evidence of a shared source or connected plume.
A geotextile and stone cover isolates PAHs, PCBs, and metals in part of the former industrial canal.
Chlorinated-solvent sediment coverWeber-Knapp CompanyDEC records a clean-stone cover at this Jamestown manufacturing cleanup.
PCB-affected sediment areaTennessee Gas Pipeline Station 229The Eden compressor-station record extends sediment concerns into a rural drainage setting.
PCB-affected shoreline sediment5565 River RoadThe River Road entry connects an upland Class 2 site with Niagara River-edge sediment.
PCB-affected shoreline sediment1660 Niagara Street ShorelineThe Niagara Street marker represents a bounded sediment record rather than the entire river shoreline.
Dioxin- and furan-affected sedimentDurez / Occidental ChemicalThe Durez record adds a distinct chemical-manufacturing and sediment-contaminant history.
Riprap and habitat coverGratwick Riverside ParkGratwick combines landfill containment, shoreline protection, and present-day park use.