Reuse Assessment

Section Two Project Setting and History

Village Location
The Village of Gowanda (population 2842) is located in the central-western region of New York State. The Village lies approximately 30 miles south of the City of Buffalo and 35 miles north of the New York/Pennsylvania state line. Gowanda is bisected by Cattaraugus Creek, with the northern portion of the Village located in Erie County, N.Y. and the southern portion in Cattaraugus County, N.Y. (See location map below.) The Seneca Nation of Indians Cattaraugus Reservation is directly to the west of the Village.

The Gowanda area is defined by its major natural resources, which includes Cattaraugus Creek and the Zoar Valley; as well as abundant undeveloped lands outside of the Village. The importance of Gowanda’s natural features can be seen in the name of the Village itself, which is a Seneca name meaning “A Valley Among the Hills”.

Figure 2a
Village of Gowanda Location Map

Site Location
The Peter Cooper Gowanda (PCG) site is approximately 26 acres in size and is situated directly on Cattaraugus Creek, which makes up the site’s northern border. Across the Creek from the site is a scenic bluff that signals the beginning of the Zoar Valley. To the south of the site is Palmer Street, a Village road. The site is roughly rectangular in shape, with its two longest sides along Cattaraugus Creek and Palmer Street (see aerial view below). The site is bordered on the west by residences and a wetland area, and on the east by residences.

The PCG site is approximately one-third mile from the downtown commercial center of the Village. Across the street from the site at 241 Palmer Street are the former offices and research facility of the Peter Cooper Corporation. This property is no longer a part of the PCG site and is owned by a local developer. One-quarter mile to the southeast of the PCG site, upstream on Cattaraugus Creek, is the Moench Tannery site. The tannery site once housed a large manufacturing complex, however, the plant was decommissioned in the 1990’s.

Site History
Historical records indicate that the Peter Cooper Gowanda Site was used for industrial purposes beginning in 1904 when the Eastern Tanners Glue Company built a manufacturing plant to produce animal-based glue. The company became known as the Peter Cooper Corporation (PCC) in 1931, and animal-based glue continued to be made at the Gowanda location until the early 1970’s. Reportedly the plant was the largest producer of animal-based glue products in the world for part of that time. A historic photo of the plant appears below.

Figure 2c
Historic Photo of PCG Factory on Cattaraugus Creek

Based on the above photograph and the USGS map for the Village, the manufacturing facility appears to have taken up most of the 2700-foot long site. At the western (closest) end of the site is an area that was used for storage and landfill of a manufacturing by-product known as “cookhouse sludge”. Cookhouse sludge was produced when fleshings and chrome-tanned hides from tanneries were put through a cooking process to extract protein ingredients for glue making. The cookhouse sludge has been shown to contain elevated levels of chromium, arsenic, zinc, and some organic compounds.

Due to the community’s environmental concerns New York State ordered the Peter Cooper Corporation to remove 38,600 tons of cookhouse sludge from the western end of the site in 1971. The landfill area was reportedly graded and partially covered at that time. The sludge was moved via railroad to a farm in the Town of Markhams several miles outside of the Village. The Markhams Site has also been placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, however, is not part of this Reuse Assessment and Concept Plan.

The Peter Cooper manufacturing plant was sold to the Rousselot Gelatin Corporation in 1976. The company produced synthetic industrial adhesives until the facility was closed in 1985. Since 1988 the site has been owned by a “no-asset” corporation, which has salvaged building materials and used the site for storage at various times. Reportedly the site has been used as a residence for part of the time also.

The site was placed on the New York State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites (State Superfund) in 1987. Between 1989 and 1991 a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was performed on the landfill area. Village documents indicate the following.

“The RI/FS concluded that impacts to groundwater and sediment had occurred from the landfill leachate, and that controls (containment and leachate collection) were required to prevent further impacts. However, for legal reasons NY State was unable to pursue the remedial actions under NY State Environmental Conservation Law. Village of Gowanda officials and NYSDEC remained concerned as to the impacts from the landfill, and requested that USEPA investigate the site. USEPA found that the landfill site posed a potential health hazard, and subsequently listed it as a National Priority List site…”

In a letter dated 10/22/92 the New York State Department of Health stated their position that they did not support the “delisting” of the PCG site from the New York State Superfund List, due to concerns about the site’s location in a residential area and the elevated levels of metals in surface soils. (See Attachment D). The letter goes on to say that:

“The original fence is easily breached by residents, children, fisherman, and riders of dust raising all terrain vehicles. Over time, the landfill cover has been worn along heavily used paths and trails. Fishermen and other recreational users of Cattaraugus Creek may have come in direct contact with contaminated sediment west of the dam and leachate entering the Creek. Thus, human exposure can occur through inhalation, dermal contact and ingestion of site contaminants in soil, sediment, groundwater and leachate.”

After the site was taken off the state Superfund list, it was listed on the National Priorities List in March 1998. As part of that listing USEPA released the following information. [1]

“Between 1925 and October 1970, PCC used the northwest portion of the property to pile sludges remaining after the manufacturing process. The waste has been shown to contain elevated levels of chromium, arsenic, zinc, and some organic compounds. Samples of landfill waste collected in 1988 during a Remedial Investigation (RI) showed total chromium concentrations as high as 44,000 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) and zinc up to 840 mg/kg. A composite waste sample contained chlorobenzene, 2-butanone, and low concentrations of ethylbenzene, toluene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and fluoranthene.”
”A June 1971 New York State Supreme Court order required PCC to remove all or part of the waste pile and end discharges into Cattaraugus Creek. In response, PCC reportedly transported approximately 38,600 tons of the waste material to their Markhams, New York site in early 1972. The volume of fill remaining at the site was estimated at 73,000 cubic yards. From 1972 to 1975, the pile was graded, covered, and seeded. Dense stone rip-rap and a concrete wall were placed along the bank of the stream to protect the fill material from scouring.”
Numerous investigations conducted since 1981 have shown that the cover material has eroded and waste is exposed in some locations, the concrete retaining wall has collapsed, and leachate seeps are discharging into Cattaraugus Creek. Sampling of the leachate during the RI showed that it contained chromium, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, zinc, chlorobenzene, and several phenolic compounds.”
“Leachate samples collected in July 1995 confirmed the presence of chromium, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, zinc, chlorobenzene, and 2-methylphenol. The results of soil sampling conducted during the RI indicated a large area of chromium-contaminated soil outside the landfill boundary. Hexavalent chromium was also detected in 33 of 65 surface and near-surface soil samples.”
“In June 1991, PCC and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) agreed on a remedial alternative for the site that would include containment of landfill materials, leachate collection, and restrictions of access.”
“In August 1996, NYSDEC reiterated that the site poses an environmental threat due to the poor condition of the retaining wall along Cattaraugus Creek. [2] In response, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency monitored the placement of a rip-rap retention wall on NYSEG's portion of the site in February 1997. It is reported that an arm of the waste pile extended into Cattaraugus Creek in 1966. Leachate seeps that contained landfill substances have been observed entering the river along an 862-foot span adjacent to the landfill. A surface water sample collected approximately 425 feet downstream of the probable point of entry contained arsenic, chromium, zinc, 4-methylphenol, and phenol at elevated concentrations. A sediment sample collected from the same location contained 4-methylphenol at an elevated concentrations.”

Village History

In order to gain a better understanding of the role that the Peter Cooper Corporation has played in the Village, and the importance of the site that formerly held the manufacturing facility, a brief history of the Gowanda community is presented below.

Fortunately for current residents of Gowanda a number of historians have documented the community’s past. Like many communities in this region of the country, Gowanda can trace its beginnings to the period after the American Revolution when settlers from the Eastern United States pushed the frontier continually west. The Village was settled due to its strategic location near natural resources (fertile land for agriculture, timber for logging, and Cattaraugus Creek for waterpower to name a few). As can be seen below in a summary of key historical events in the Village, several industries were founded during the 1800’s to take advantage of these resources and the transportation networks that had been developed (roads, railroads and the Erie Canal). The new industries included grist mills, a furnace maker, a plow and stove manufacturer, a wagon and carriage factory, and an axe foundry (White 1898). Also in 1869 a tannery was opened that eventually provided raw materials to the Peter Cooper Corporation. In 1904 Richard Wilhelm began construction of the Eastern Tanners Glue Company, which eventually became known as the Peter Cooper Corporation.

Highlights of Gowanda’s History [3]

After the American Revolution the entire area that is now considered Western New York was purchased by Robert Morris from the State Of Massachusetts and from the Seneca Nation through the 1797 Treaty at Big Tree. [4] The Holland Land Company then purchased 3.3 million acres in the area, with the intent of subdividing it and selling properties to settlers.
By the 1820’s a number of roads had been opened and settlements were scattered throughout the area.
Southwestern New York grew in population throughout the 19^th century. Proximity of the Erie Canal and the Allegheny River made the county part of an important transportation corridor.
As the transportation networks grew, logging became an important industry in the area.
Throughout the 19^th century waterpower was harnessed to run saw and gristmills.
Cottage industries began in tanning and furniture as spin-offs of the timber industries (Ellis, 1879).
In the early 1800s Gowanda was first known as Aldrich Mills, named after Turner Aldrich, who was reported to be the first settler of Gowanda. He built a gristmill and an unsuccessful hydropower dam in the area of the Village.
In 1823 the name of the community was changed to Lodi, however, it was later found that there was already another Lodi in New York State.
In 1848 the Village’s name was changed to Gowanda, a Seneca name meaning “A Valley Among the Hills” (Leonard 1898). The Village was incorporated that year, and consisted of 746 acres.
During the 1830’s a number of manufacturing companies were begun in the Village including a furnace maker, a plow and stove manufacturer, a gristmill, a wagon and carriage factory, and axe foundry (White 1898).
In 1869 the tannery firm of Gaennlen Fisher and Co., successors to Gaennlen Bros., located their enlarged plant in Gowanda because of the available railroad link.
In 1904 Richard Wilhelm began construction of the Eastern Tanners Glue Company. This was for a time the largest glue-making factory in the world (The Gowanda Co-Operative Saving and Loan Assoc. 1940). The glue industry became a vital factor in the steady growth of Gowanda.
Cattaraugus Creek was the impetus for the original settlement of Gowanda. Oak and hemlock woods provided the natural resources for the tanning industry and the Erie Railroad further aided its development.
Western New York State is the home of the Erie and Seneca Nations. [5] Today, Seneca territories are located in southern and northwestern Cattaraugus County. Permanent non-native settlements (such as Gowanda) in the area were established in the early 1800’s. The area has remained basically rural, with the exception of the city of Buffalo to the north in northwestern Erie County.

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Footnotes
(click on the number to the left of each footnote to return to the footnote reference in the body of the report)

1	Excerpted from the “NPL Site Narrative at Listing; PETER COOPER Gowanda, NY” Federal Register Notice: March 6, 1998. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/nar1496.htm.
2	The Village of Gowanda had requested emergency repair of the break wall to prevent mass discharge of the cookhouse sludge stored there.
3	Excerpted from the “Cultural Resources Overview. Stage 1A For A Sewage Project in the Village of Gowanda, Cattaraugus and Erie Counties, New York.” Environmental Consultants, Inc. 9/12/83, except where noted. Original sources noted when available.
4	Taken from written comments of the Seneca Nation dated September 5, 2002 and from the records of the Cattaraugus County Deed Office.
5	The Seneca Nation refers to the area as their “traditional cultural territory” rather than “home”. (From written comments of September 5, 2002.)