Section One Introduction

The Peter Cooper Gowanda (PCG) Superfund Site is approximately twenty-six acres in size and once housed a large glue manufacturing facility, reported at one time to be the biggest glue factory in the world.[1]  The factory played an important role in the history of Gowanda, New York, as it was one of the area’s largest industrial employers for the better part of the 20^th century (1904 -1985).  At one time the Peter Cooper Company employed 250 people and helped establish Gowanda as the commercial and residential hub of the primarily rural region of central-western New York. The factory, however, also left a legacy of environmental contamination that the community is struggling to resolve.  Beginning in1971 the site became a concern to environmental regulatory agencies, culminating in its inclusion on the National Priorities List (NPL), otherwise known as the Federal Superfund, in 1998. 

In July 2001 the Village of Gowanda commissioned the University at Buffalo Center for Integrated Waste Management to carry out this Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan for the PCG site.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has provided financial support for the project through its Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) program.

The central purpose of this report is to help the Village and the USEPA answer the question “What does the future hold for the Peter Cooper Gowanda Superfund site”.  This is an important question in the Superfund remediation process as assumptions about future use of the site, referred to as the “reasonably anticipated future land use” by the USEPA, weigh heavily in decisions that may have long-term impacts on the neighborhoods and communities that surround Superfund sites.   The “reasonably anticipated future land use” at Superfund sites is used at the risk assessment stage and subsequently in the final decision on the extent of remediation that will take place on the site.  USEPA[2] has noted that:

The Village of Gowanda made application to the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative program in March 2000.  In its application, the Village identified three main goals it hoped to accomplish with the resources made available through the program 

• Goal One: Development of a reuse plan that fits both long and short-range community needs.
• Goal Two: To increase the opportunity for public involvement and consensus building.
• Goal Three: Resolve legal issues affecting site reuse and the development.

The Village further defined what it hoped to accomplish under the SRI, which included:

• To identify potential future uses that fit community needs;
• Enhance development of adjacent property; and
• Insure that the form of remediation is compatible with the future use needs of the community.

What is the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative?

This Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan is being carried out under the USEPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative.  The USEPA describes the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative as follows

“ On July 23, 1999, EPA announced a national effort (called the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative) to help communities return Superfund sites to productive use.  With this Initiative, EPA has put in place a coordinated national program to make certain that communities have the tools and information needed for the reuse of Superfund sites.  As always, EPA’s first priority is to make sure that all cleanups protect human health and the environment.  Without compromising cleanup standards, EPA can help communities and other interested parties to realize the enormous potential of reusing Superfund sites.”[3]

 Figure 1a  

The USEPA currently identifies 170 sites across the United States as success stories of Superfund sites being used again for productive purposes.  The 170 sites are being used for a number of purposes including Commercial, Recreational, Public Service, Ecological, Residential and Agricultural, as can be seen in the following breakdown[4]:

 Figure 1b

Information on the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative was distributed and discussed with Gowanda area residents at a Public Meeting held in October 2001.  Handout materials from that meeting on how Superfund sites have been put to productive reuse in categories such as Commercial/Residential Reuse and Recreational/Ecological and Public Reuse are included in Attachment A.

Project Approach  

At the request of the Village of Gowanda, the UB Center for Integrated Waste Management put together an approach for a Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan for the PCG site, which was submitted with Village’s proposal to the USEPA. This approach was based on the identification and evaluation of potential land uses for the site based on the following factors.

• Assets and limitations of the site, such as natural features, geographic location, size, configuration, availability of public infrastructure, etc.

• Presence of environmentally sensitive features such as wetlands, floodplain, habitats of endangered or threatened species, wellhead protection areas. etc.

• Local and regional economic forces that may impact the future uses of the site (e.g. lack of serviceable land suitable for industrial development in the Village, regional recreation and eco-tourism plans, regional transportation corridor plans, etc.)

• Needs of the Gowanda community as identified during the recent Master Plan process; ongoing community needs assessment on topics such as senior citizens' housing; through interviews with key municipal and community including those represented on the Cattaraugus Creek Task Force.

• Potential linkages with existing and foreseeable land uses in the immediate vicinity of the site and elsewhere in the Village and the Region.

• Benefits to the Gowanda community in terms of municipal tax revenues employment opportunities, increased property values and positive effects on the community’s quality of life and natural environment. 

• Availability of financial incentives such as tax abatement programs, reduced energy costs, and the like being offered at federal and state levels.

Subsequent to the Village's submittal of their proposal, the USEPA released a new directive entitled " Reuse Assessments: A Tool To Implement the Superfund Land Use Directive” to all Superfund National Policy Managers on June 4, 2001[5]. This directive provides guidance for developing future land use assumptions when making remedy selection decisions for Superfund sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).  The guidance includes more detailed information on what a Reuse Assessment should include, as shown in Table 1a below.

  Table 1a 
Outline for a Reuse Assessment  

Most of the reuse elements listed in the new USEPA guidance were included in the original approach, however, those that were not have been included in this report as possible.

Stakeholders  

Numerous stakeholders in the cleanup and redevelopment of the Peter Cooper Gowanda site have been identified and contacted as part of the Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan, including public officials from the Village and surrounding municipalities, business leaders, the Seneca Nation of Indians, and state officials.  Residents of the Gowanda area have been included in the process through several public meetings that were also televised on Channel 21 Public Access Television, as well as through a widely distributed Public Opinion Survey that is discussed in Section Seven this report.  At the beginning of the project personnel from the Center for Integrated Waste Management and the Village of Gowanda compiled a listing of Project Stakeholders and their affiliations.  The list is included in Attachment B.

The following stakeholder meetings were held during the course of the Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan project.  Informational materials from these meetings are included in Attachment C (unless otherwise noted) and in pertinent sections of this report.

• July 30, 2001 – Meeting of the Cattaraugus Creek Basin Taskforce

• September 12, 2001 – Meeting of Village Officials, PRP Representatives and the University at Buffalo project personnel

• October 10, 2001 – Meeting of Village Officials, Planning  & Economic Development Agencies, and Non-Profit Organizations (Attachment I)

• October 30, 2001 – Community-Wide Public Information Meeting televised on Channel 21 Public Access Television

• November 15, 2001 – Gowanda Area Leadership Forum

• January 15, 2002 – Meeting of Village representatives and representatives of the Seneca Nation of Indians (Attachment M)

• May 8, 2002 – Meeting of UB Project Personnel and Village Board

• May 9, 2002 – Community-Wide Public Information Meeting televised on Channel 21 Public Access Television May 21, 2002 – Meeting of Village representatives and NYSDEC

• September 12, 2002 - Community-Wide Public Information Meeting televised on Channel 21 Public Access Television (Attachment O)

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Footnotes
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