The facility is located at 35 Newell Street in Buffalo, New York in a predominately industrial/commercial section of Buffalo. The Site was used for drum reconditioning activities since the 1950's. The site had been inactive since May 2001.
A private citizen called the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as a result of children found inside the abandoned building. The citizen noticed numerous drums and detected an unidentifiable odor. The NYSDEC subsequently performed an inspection on June 27, 2002 and found several hundred drums in various stages of deterioration. Drums were found with corrosive and flammable labels. The NYSDEC requested response and removal assistance from the US EPA.
The NYSDEC and EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) met with the owner on June 28, 2002 to obtain a written access agreement and to discuss former site operations. The owner had stated that he had no money and was currently residing with his mother in the Buffalo area. NYSDEC and CID investigators collected samples for enforcement purposes.
On July 1, 2002, EPA and the Removal Support Team (RST) contractor conducted a preliminary assessment and collected drum, tank, and floor drain samples from within this abandoned drum reconditioning facility. A total of 439 dums, in severe stages of deterioration, were identified within the building, of which an estimated 400-420 contained waste materials. A 3500 gallon caustic bath tank and a 500 gallon caustic pre-flush tank were identified and found to contain a caustic liquid and sludge like material. On site Hazcatting results detected primarily caustic liquids and sludges (pH 12-14) and flammable liquids in a majority of the samples collected.
EPA obtained a verbal authorization on July 2, 2002 and mobilized the Emergency and Rapid Response Services (ERRS) contractor to perform site stabilization activities.
