Pfohl Brothers Landfill

Overview

Pfohl Brothers Landfill covers 120 acres in Cheektowaga, New York, and accepted municipal and industrial waste from 1932 to 1971. Businesses in steel, metal, chemical, and petroleum industries were among those that disposed of waste there. The EPA added the site to its Superfund National Priorities List in 1994 and deleted it in September 2008 after all cleanup goals were met.

More than 50 chemicals were found in groundwater, soil, leachate, surface water, and sediment at the site. Heavy metals include lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and mercury. Organic chemicals found there include benzene, trichloroethene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and chlorobenzene. Pesticides such as aldrin, chlordane, and endrin were also detected, along with dioxin compounds.

Cleanup happened in stages. In 1995, workers removed 4,534 drums from the site. Between 1992 and 2002, a larger effort installed a containment cap, a leachate collection and treatment system, and a slurry wall to hold contaminants in place. About 540,000 cubic yards of waste were excavated from the edges of the landfill to allow future development, and contaminated material was consolidated toward the interior. Thirty-six of those excavated acres were restored with clean fill and are now available for redevelopment. A separate portion of the site called Area A required no cleanup because investigation showed it was used only as a soil borrow area with no significant groundwater contamination.

Human exposure to contamination is currently under control, and contaminated groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Institutional controls protect the remedy. These include zoning restrictions against residential use, prohibitions on groundwater use, and limits on excavation near the containment cap. In redevelopment areas, agreements also require paved parking, surface water controls, and soil gas management systems. Five-year reviews completed in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2020 all confirmed the remedy continues to protect human health and the environment. The most recent five-year review was completed on November 13, 2025.

Community members can review site documents at the Anna M. Reinstein Public Library at 2580 Harlem Road in Cheektowaga, NY, or at the EPA's office at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY. For questions, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator. Technical questions can go to the Remedial Project Manager.