hooker (s area)

BUFFALO AVE

The Hooker Chemical S-Area site is an 8-acre industrial landfill owned by the Occidental Chemical Corporation. It is located at the southeast corner of OCC’s Buffalo Avenue chemical plant in Niagara Falls, New York, along the Niagara River. Adjacent to the landfill is the City of Niagara Falls (City) drinking water treatment plant (DWTP). The Province of Ontario, Canada, is located across the Niagara River, a distance of approximately two miles. The landfill lies atop approximately 30 feet of soil, clay, till, and manmade fill on an area reclaimed from the Niagara River. Beneath these materials is fractured bedrock. OCC disposed of approximately 63,000 tons of chemical processing wastes into the landfill from 1947 to 1961. The landfill also was used by OCC for disposal of other wastes and debris, a practice that ended in 1975. Two lagoons for nonhazardous waste from plant operations were located on top of the landfill and were operated under New York State permits until 1989, when OCC discontinued operating these lagoons. During an inspection of the DWTP in 1969, chemicals were found in the bedrock water intake structures. In 1978, sampling of the structures and bedrock water intake tunnel revealed chemical contamination. The site is located in a heavily industrialized area of Niagara Falls. There is a residential community of approximately 700 people within 1/4 mile northeast of the site. The DWTP serves an estimated 70,000 people. Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through Federal and potentially responsible parties' actions.