102nd Street chemical landfill explained

Hooker (102nd Street)
City:Niagara Falls
County:Niagara County
State:New York
Location Map:USA New York
Cerclis Id:NYD980506810
Responsible:Occidental Petroleum, Olin Corporation
Proposed:12/01/1982
Listed:09/01/1983
Deleted:08/05/2004

The 102nd Street chemical landfill is a former chemical landfill located on the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, New York. It is almost immediately adjacent to the infamous Love Canal chemical landfill, which are split from each other by the LaSalle Expressway and Frontier Avenue. Hooker Chemical Company, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, and Olin Chemical, who were the original owners of the site, were ordered to clean up the site and pay $16,500,000[1] by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It is a designated Superfund site, and is closed to the public.

Site description

The 102nd Street landfill consists of two parcels, one owned by Olin Corporation and one owned by Hooker Chemical & Plastics Corporation at an area of 22.1acres total.[2] Unlike Love Canal, which it is directly south of, the facility is still owned by Hooker (Occidental) and Olin, which are in the process of cleaning it up. It is part of the original canal excavation from which the Love Canal landfill takes its name. It currently appears to be a large field, as the chemicals are sealed off and buried underneath the soil. Griffon Park lies directly west, and currently, little residential development lies on either side of the area. The area is monitored with air and ground monitoring devices to measure the toxicity of the site.

At an unknown date, chemicals began seeping into the Niagara River. A concrete bulkhead has been constructed on the shore to stop the seepage of chemicals into the river. The area is fenced off by a 6feet chain-linked fence on all sides.

History

The landfill takes its name from 102nd Street, a street that ran through the area before residents were evacuated and homes demolished.

The larger portion owned by Hooker was operated from 1943 until 1971.[2] In that time period, 23500ST of mixed organic and/or inorganic compounds, solvents and phosphates, and related chemicals were dumped here including brine sludge, fly ash, electrochemical cell parts and related equipment plus 300ST of hexachlorocyclohexane process cake, including lindane.

The smaller portion owned by Olin Corp. operated from 1948 to 1970. 6600ST of compounds and elements and an additional 20000ST of mercury brine and brine sludge, 1000disp=preunitNaNdisp=preunit tons of hazardous chemicals, 16ST of concrete boiler ash, fly ash and other residual materials were deposited.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: U.S. Sues Hooker Chemical at Niagara Falls, New York. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110210020936/http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/02.htm. 2011-02-10. EPA. 1979-12-20. 2010-05-20.
  2. Web site: EPA. Superfund Site: Hooker (102nd Street) Niagara Falls, NY. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170130235425/https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0201706. 2017-01-30.