Case Studies
Sustainable Site Remediation and Climate Change Adaptation: A Matter of Equity and Environmental Justice for Buffalo’s Delavan-Grider Neighborhood
Climate change–induced heavy rain and flooding could complicate remediation of contaminated sites.
The Delavan-Grider neighborhood of Buffalo’s East Side, home to a predominantly Black community, is also where General Motors (GM) and American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) operated what is now a heavily polluted 100-year-old manufacturing facility. According to state records, the site contains hazardous oil, grease, and cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). During GM’s ownership, these substances leaked into local creeks and later leached into the surrounding sewer system.
Residents formed the American Axle Steering Committee and organized to stop toxic runoff from the site. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is the federal law that makes responsible parties pay for cleanup of contaminated sites (often referred to as Superfund sites). In 2017, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) released $2.8 million from the New York State Superfund Program to fund remediation on a portion of the site and began enforcing cleanup efforts on five of the site’s 33 acres. However, climate change–induced heavy rain and flooding could complicate remediation for this site and lead to the spread of contamination. This case study highlights the need for sustainable site remediation and climate adaptation in the context of systemic disinvestment and environmental justice.
Highlights
- Extreme precipitation events due to climate change could exacerbate existing contamination problems at this Superfund site scheduled for remediation.
- A remedial workplan for this contaminated site will consider how site-specific vulnerabilities and climate hazards affect the site and the local community.
- As climate change impacts intensify, so does the need to protect communities from the potential spread of chemicals at contaminated sites following extreme precipitation events.
The AAM site comprises a large portion of the former plant and includes a Class 2 inactive hazardous waste disposal site (Superfund site). Residential, commercial, and light industrial buildings surround the property. A railroad right-of-way, no longer in use, also lies near the property, with the nearest residential area just west of the southern end of the site. The site’s current use is mixed commercial and light industrial, including auto parts retail, construction equipment manufacturing, and other commercial businesses.
GM operated the site from the 1920s to 1994. In 1994, AAM purchased the site and continued to manufacture drivetrain components until 2008. The current owner, Delevan Properties, then acquired the site. Initial investigations detected semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), metals, pesticides, and PCBs in soil and groundwater on site, revealing that hundreds of residents—particularly Black communities living within a 1-mile radius of the plant—were living on toxic land. GM was ordered to remediate the site in 2006, but it was not until 2018, following the release of the funds from the New York State Superfund Program in 2017, that the NYSDEC began to enforce cleanup efforts.
State records show that PCBs have penetrated a brick sewer running beneath the property. This presents a problem, as heavy rain may cause the sewer to empty into the Scajaquada Creek in Forest Lawn Cemetery. More extreme precipitation events due to climate change could make this issue worse. Even though GM concluded that the PCBs entering the sewer had a negligible impact on the creek, a 2014 study by the United States Army Corps of Engineers found unsafe PCB concentrations in the creek, with at least seven spots within the cemetery showing levels deemed “likely harmful” to fish, birds, and other wildlife. Under CERCLA, responsible parties are liable if climate-related events such as flooding exacerbate the problems on contaminated sites.
In 2021, the NYSDEC announced the establishment of a community working group to support the remediation and revitalization of the AAM site.1 This working group will provide input and add local knowledge to the cleanup process as a remedial workplan is developed.
As climate change impacts intensify, so does the need to protect communities from the potential spread of chemicals at contaminated sites following extreme precipitation events. The AAM site demonstrates that Superfund sites pose an important issue for both the Environmental Protection Agency’s and New York State’s climate action plans to address, particularly in light of environmental justice concerns.
References
1. Erie County, New York. (2021, April 7). DEC Commissioner Seggos and Erie County Legislator Baskin announce “community working group” to support cleanup of former American Axle site. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www2.erie.gov/baskin/index.php?q=press/dec-commissioner-seggos-and-erie-county-legislator-baskin-announce-%E2%80%98community-working-group%E2%80%99-s