sinclair refinery

S BROOKLYN AVE

The Sinclair Refinery site covers approximately 100 acres adjacent to the west bank of the Genesee River, one-quarter mile south of downtown Wellsville. The refinery was built in the late 1800's and operated by the Wellsville Refining Company until 1919 when the Sinclair Refining Company (now the Atlantic Richfield Company, or ARCO) purchased the property and operated the refinery until 1958, when a fire ended operations. After closure of the refinery, a majority of the property was transferred to the Village of Wellsville, which subsequently conveyed land parcels to various entities, including the State University of New York and the several companies now occupying the site. Various types of wastes including cloth filters, oil sludges, contaminated soil, pesticides, heavy metals, and fly ash were disposed of in two on-site landfills over a 30-year period. Prior to the site remediation, the landfill area of the site consisted of a 9-acre Central Elevated Landfill Area, a 2-acre South Landfill Area, and a 1-acre sand and gravel area between the two landfills. The landfill area of the site is located at the extreme southern end of the site, along the west bank of the Genesee River, approximately 1 and1/4 miles upstream from the Village of Wellsville's former water supply intake pipe. The EPA, the State, and ARCO relocated the town's river water intake to a point upstream of the landfill in 1988, so that any contaminants entering the river through erosion of the landfill would no longer threaten the water supply. Before any steps to remediate the site were initiated, the river was slowly eroding the ground under the landfill, creating the potential for contamination of off-site surface waters if the river's flood waters were high enough to reach the landfill. Approximately 6,000 people live within a mile of the landfill. Several businesses and the State University of New York at Alfred's Wellsville Campus are located on the refinery portion of the Sinclair property. Approximately 500 people use the buildings located on this part of the site. Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through a combination of Federal, State, municipal, and potentially responsible parties' actions.

Hazardous Ranking Score

54 / 100

A score of 28.5 or higher qualifies a site for the Superfund National Priority List.

Regional Contact

Region 2
Phone: (877) 251-4575

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Timeline

Discovery
Site Inspection
Preliminary Assessment
Final Listing On NPL
Removal

Contaminants & Health Effects

      Carcinogen
      Endocrine Disrupter
      Neurotoxic
      Sensitiser
      Reproductive Toxin
      Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
      VOC
      Mutagen

        Census

        White
        African American
        Asian
        American Indian and Alaska Native
        Native Hawaiian
        Other

        2,497

        People living
        within a 1 mile radius

        $51,133

        Average Income

        1,076

        Occupied homes

        Potentially Responsible Parties

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