Forest Glen Mobile Home Subdivision

Overview

This 39-acre site in Niagara Falls, New York was used for illegal chemical waste disposal before the 1970s. Developers later built a mobile home park over an inadequately covered 11-acre dump area. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List on November 21, 1989, after a 1987 assessment confirmed widespread contamination.

Contaminants found at the site include volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethene, benzene, and vinyl chloride, as well as heavy metals including lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, mercury, and nickel. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, phenolic compounds, phthalates, and cyanide were also identified. These contaminants affect soil, sediment, and groundwater across the site.

EPA took quick action to protect residents. Starting in 1990, the agency permanently relocated all 53 families living on the property, completing that process by 1993. Under a court-approved consent decree, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has implemented the long-term cleanup. Contaminated soil was excavated, consolidated, and sealed under an engineered cap. A 40,000-square-foot commercial distribution facility was built over the cap in 2003. Three extraction wells pump roughly 20 gallons per minute of contaminated groundwater, which is treated at the Niagara Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant. Less contaminated groundwater west of the site is monitored for natural attenuation.

Construction of the remedy finished by 2004. Human exposure is under control, and groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Contaminant concentrations in the off-property groundwater plume are currently below Maximum Contaminant Levels. The site achieved sitewide ready-for-anticipated-reuse status on June 29, 2016, and the on-site business employed one person and generated about $3.5 million in annual sales as of December 2024. Operation and maintenance of the groundwater system remains ongoing. EPA has completed five-year reviews in 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, and most recently on July 27, 2022, with the next review estimated between July and September 2027.

Community members with questions can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager.