2009 Demonstration Project
Hiteman Leather:
West Winfield, New York
THE SITE: The Hiteman Leather Company Superfund site is located
on 12 acres at the center of the Village of West Winfield in Herkimer
County, New York. The Unadilla River traverses a portion of the site,
dividing it into a 10-acre section to the north and two acres to the south.
Home to tannery operations for over a century, the property was
abandoned in 1968 when the company failed to meet environmental
standards. Foundations of the former factory buildings, a parking lot, a
garage and small shed, three backfilled wastewater lagoons, a 2-acre
wetland, open field areas, and a small backfilled area in front of a
Village Department of Public Works garage remained on site. State and
federal investigations between 1988 and 1996 found high levels of
chromium and metals in the lagoon area and surrounding soils and river
sediments. Prior to a 1999 listing on EPA's National Priorities List
(NPL), immediate cleanup efforts included demolishing contaminated,
structurally unsound buildings and fencing the property to restrict public
access. In 2008, EPA resumed cleanup activities, including excavation
and on-site consolidation of contaminated soils and sediments and
placement of a site-wide soil cover. Cleanup was completed in
September 2008.
THE OPPORTUNITY: The site's downtown location presented an
ideal prospect for redevelopment, and the Village had expressed interest
in putting the land back to use. EPA's remedial actions had yet to begin
when the Village voiced its interest in reuse. Incorporating reuse
considerations early into the site's remedy could avoid unnecessary
barriers to reuse and allow for a smooth transition to appropriate
redevelopment.
THE BARRIERS: For reuse considerations to be included in EPA's
cleanup process and to avoid unnecessary obstacles to reuse, site
stakeholders, led by West Winfield's Redevelopment Committee,
needed to understand and determine appropriate reuse options for the
site and document their conclusions.
Hiteman Leather site prior to remedial
actions.
Barriers: Unknown future land
uses
Solution: Reuse Assessment Plan
funded by 2001 SRI Pilot grant
Hiteman Leather site upon cleanup
completion.
Before: Vacant, overgrown site at
the heart of downtown
After: Cleaned up site that
accommodates reuses valued by the
community
THE SOLUTION: In 2001, EPA awarded West Winfield a Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Pilot grant to
fund a Reuse Assessment Plan for the property. The Reuse Assessment Plan process provided an opportunity
United States
Environmental Pro!
Superfund Redevelopment Initiative
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for community members and site stakeholders to work together to understand the limitations and opportunities
of the site and determine how they could best use the property. Once complete, the Reuse Assessment could be
used by EPA to ensure that reuse considerations were incorporated into the remedy. Jack O'Dell, EPA
Remedial Project Manager at the site, explained the role the Assessment played in the site's cleanup, "We used
the Reuse Plan during our cleanup to ensure that we did not do anything to unnecessarily impede reuse at the
site. It also made it clear to us what sort of institutional controls were needed to protect the remedy and support
reuse. I think that everyone that was involved came away from the experience extremely satisfied."
THE SITE NOW: When cleanup activities resumed in February 2008, EPA was able to incorporate
considerations put forth in the Reuse Assessment Plan into their cleanup actions. The site's remedy required
containment of low level wastes on site. EPA chose to place those materials in the area contemplated as soccer
fields in the Plan and capped them with a soil cover that would accommodate future use as soccer fields. The
Village hopes to redevelop the site in phases and is now in the process of constructing a much needed sewer
treatment system on part of the site to serve the downtown area. In the future, the Village hopes to incorporate
Village offices, a library, a police station, a senior citizens' facility, soccer fields, nature trails, and a fitness and
pool area onto the site. West Winfield's Redevelopment Committee Chairman, Jim Murphy, said "The Reuse
Plan is probably what made redevelopment possible at this site; it jumpstarted the entire project. Without that
plan, I think we'd still be looking at an old foundation and an overgrown jungle out there. The site went from a
real mess to something that, hopefully, will become an area of real value to this community."
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Jack O'Dell, Remedial Project Manager, at (212)
637-4256 or odellJack@epa.gov: or Gloria Sosa, Region 2 Superfund Redevelopment Coordinator, at (212)
637-4283 or sosa.gloria@epa.gov.
Remedial activities underway at the Hiteman Leather site.
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irfund RedeveloDiment Initi.
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