At this point very little is known about this 4 acre site. With no other information besides the fact it was a battery manufacturing plant, and at some point a print shop, warehouse and Power City Collision, it's a bit tough to find out anything about it. While the EPA claims that the city has owned it since 1989, a neighbor across the street from the plant claims that it is owned by the Tulip Corp, who operates in the building adjacent to the abandoned site. He claims Tulip refuses to clean up the site, and area residents are concerned about the hazards. It's not clear if Tulip was the company who operated the factory when it was in use. According to an EPA document dated October 2001 the site includes: Lead, semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and pesticides in the soil and buildings. As of 2001 almost $24k was spent by the EPA in assessing the property and preparing a remediation plan. Redevelopment for light industrial use is planned, though no clean up (which is required) or redevelopment has occured, and honestly I really don't see it happening.

Other information about the site, is that the field surrounding the site spontaneously combusted - a pyrophoric fire - in 2001. The two-alarm fire took three hours and 19 firemen to put out. Fortunately there are four fire halls within a mile and a half of the field where the fire broke out. Strangely, though, the Niagara Falls municipal firemen were assisted by members of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base Fire Department, who had to drive five miles to get there. The Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base Fire Department is specially trained and equipped to handle hazardous material fires such as those involving radioactive or toxic chemical materials; regular fire departments are not. A couple years before, a ground fire broke out in the same area and roads were shut down for more than a square mile. Traffic was backed up and rerouted and generally frustrated while members of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base Fire Department fought the fire wearing white protective suits--the kind of suits you see in movies, the kind people wear if they are handling toxic chemical or radioactive materials. (http://www.ask.ne.jp/~hankaku/english/niagara_fall.html#0004)

With 3 and a half years between visits you can clearly see how much it has deteriorated in the meantime. Entire sections of floor have collapsed, blocking hallways that were clear during the first trip. Not the safest place on earth. It was -5F during the first trip and 95F on the second. ha!

 

 

1-10-04	7-30-07