SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Emergency and
Remedial Response
(5201 G)
July 2000
Superfund Redevelopment
Hiteman Leather Company
West Winfield, NY
Pilots
EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) is a nationally coordinated effort to facilitate the return of Superfund
sites to productive use by selecting response actions consistent with anticipated use. The SRI Pilots are intended to
help local governments enhance their involvement in the Superfund decision-making process by assisting EPA in
predicting future land uses for Superfund sites. Under the Pilot Program, EPA will provide up to $100,000 in financial
assistance and/or services to local governments for specified activities. Applicants are offered several types of program
assistance, including funding through a cooperative agreement, access to facilitation services, and/or the availability of
personnel under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA).
BACKGROUND
EPA selected the Village of West Winfield, New York, for
a Superfund Redevelopment Pilot. West Winfield is
home to the 14-acre Hiteman Leather Company
Superfund site. The property was used for leather
tanning from 1820 to 1968 when the tannery closed.
During this time the leather manufacturing process
underwent several major changes. Originally, raw
ingredients used during the tanning process were
vegetable-based (tree barks) but later mineral-based
products (chromium salts) and acid solutions were
used. By 1964,180,000 gallons of industrial
wastewaterwas being discharged daily into three
unlined lagoons adjacent to, and upslope of, the
Unadilla River. In August 1959, a fish kill in the
Unadilla River prompted an investigation by the New
York State Pollution Unit. It concluded that toxic
substances overflowing from the facility's lagoons had
killed the fish. In January 1999, EPA added the site to
its list of hazardous waste sites needing cleanup.
OBJECTIVES
The Village of West Wnfield is planning to turn the site
into a community center with a library, police sub-
station, senior citizens center, and a fitness center. The
village will use Pilot funds to design the center, which
will pave the way for developing final construction plans
and cost estimates. The village will also use funds to
conduct community meetings and create information
materials. In addition, the village will incorporate the
educational aspects of the tannery's long history, and its
cultural impact on the village, into its redevelopment
plan.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Hiteman
Leather
Company
Albany

Applicant Name: West Wnfield, NY
Site Name: Hiteman Leather Company
Date of Selection: July 2000
Anticipated Award: Facilitation Services
($100,000)
Profile: The village will conduct community
meetings to discuss turning the site into a
new community center.
Contacts:
Dan Forger
U.S. EPA Region 2
(212) 637-4402
forger.dan@epa.gov
Superfund Hotline:
(800) 424-9346 or
(703) 412-9810 (DC Metro Area)
reuse.info@epa.gov
Visit the EPA Superfund Redevelopment Web site
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/pilot.htm

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