Radioactive Niagara

The history of radioactivity in Niagara County is deeply tied to the dawn of the nuclear age. It spans over 80 years of World War II weapons development, industrial dumping, and ongoing environmental cleanup. [1, 2, 3]

1. The Manhattan Project Era (1940s)

During World War II, the federal government selected Western New York as a primary hub for developing the atomic bomb: [1, 2, 3]

The Site Choice: In 1941, the U.S. War Department built the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW), a massive 7,500-acre military facility spanning Lewiston and Porter. Initially used to manufacture TNT, it was decommissioned in 1943. [1, 2]
The Nuclear Turn: In 1944, the Manhattan Engineer District took over a 1,500-acre portion of the LOOW site, renaming it the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS). [1, 2]
The Dumping Ground: The government chose Niagara County due to its cheap power grid and remote location. It became a primary dumping ground for radioactive residues, uranium ore processing waste, and radium. Highly toxic nuclear waste from processing plants across the country (including nearby Tonawanda, NJ, and St. Louis) was shipped here. [1, 2, 3]

Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS)

2. Post-War Expansion & Structural Failures (1950s–1970s)

Following the war, nuclear operations expanded into the Cold War era under the Atomic Energy Commission: [1, 2]

Open-Air Contamination: For decades, highly radioactive “K-65” uranium sludge was stored in a 165-foot open-air silo at the NFSS, venting radon gas directly into the atmosphere. [1, 2]
Leaking Infrastructure: As early as 1949, official reports noted that uranium residues were seeping out of cracked storage structures and draining into local creeks feeding into Lake Ontario. [1]
Selling Off the Land: Between 1955 and 1975, the federal government sold off more than 1,300 acres of the contaminated LOOW property to private developers. This land was subsequently used to build homes, farms, a school, a campground, and private chemical waste facilities. [1]

CWM Chemical Services Hazardous Waste Landfill

3. The Industrial “Slag” Oversight

Simultaneously, local metallurgical companies processing rocks with radioactive traces created a glass-like, gravelly byproduct known as radioactive slag. [1, 2]

Because this material was cheap and plentiful, local construction contractors bought it to use as structural fill and bedding material.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, this radioactive slag was paved directly under public roadways, neighborhood driveways, parking lots, and residential lawns across Niagara County. [1, 2, 3]

State and federal environmental agencies are actively investigating over 100 properties following recent high-tech surveys: [1]

The Aerial Survey: In 2023 and 2024, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed a massive joint aerial radiological survey covering 15,000 nautical miles of linear airspace across Erie and Niagara counties, identifying multiple preliminary hotspots. [1, 2]
Affected Properties: More than 120 property owners in Niagara County (particularly concentrated in the Town of Niagara and Lewiston) have received official letters notifying them that elevated radiation levels were detected on or near their land. [1, 2, 3]
On-the-Ground Testing: Beginning in March, the DEC started requesting permission from homeowners to enter private yards for advanced ground-level testing. Some preliminary residential yard tests revealed radiation levels so intense they “maxed out” the agencies’ detection radars. [1, 2, 3]
The state Department of Health (DOH) and DEC maintain that there is no acute or immediate health risk within public rights-of-way or publicly accessible areas. However, long-term exposure to thorium, gamma radiation, and resulting radon gas poses chronic health risks, including cancer. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The discovery has triggered a wave of community anxiety and high-level political friction: [1]

“Radioactive Love Canal”: Frustrated homeowners and activists have organized news conferences, comparing the scenario to the historic Love Canal disaster. They are demanding emergency funding for family relocations, total data transparency, and immediate designation as State Superfund sites. [1, 2, 3]
Gubernatorial Demands: Governor Kathy Hochul sent an urgent public directive demanding that the EPA deploy immediate additional staffing, dedicated analytical support, and resource acceleration for the Niagara and Erie County Radiological Assessment (NECRA) project. [1]
Liability Concerns: Residents have voiced frustration regarding a liability waiver attached to the state’s property access request, which prevents property owners from suing the government or clean-up companies during the evaluation phase. [1]

The Union Carbide / Electro Metallurgical Site

4. The Earthen Cap & Ongoing Cleanup (1980s–Present)

By the late 1970s, public pressure forced the federal government to address the region’s mounting toxic footprint. [1, 2]

The Containment Cell: In 1982, the Department of Energy consolidated thousands of tons of contaminated soil and demolition debris into a 10-acre engineered Interim Waste Containment Structure (IWCS)—effectively a massive clay-capped radioactive hill.
The Neighborhood “Hotspots”: A 1978 aerial radiation survey initially mapped roughly 100 radioactive hotspots in residential areas. The federal government cleaned up about a third of them (the properties tied directly to the Manhattan Project). However, dozens of sites contaminated by commercial metallurgical slag were left untouched because of disputes over legal liability. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Radioactive Slag Hotspot – Pletchers Corners Near Military and Lockport Roads in Town of Niagara

The Current Reality

Today, the legacy of the Manhattan Project remains one of the largest environmental challenges in Western New York. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is executing a multi-phase, multi-million-dollar plan to completely dig up, pack, and ship the 390,000 tons of radioactive waste out of the Lewiston containment site to specialized facilities out of state. The entire cleanup project is projected to last until 2040. [1, 2, 3]

Radioactive Slag Hotspot – Near Creek and Pletcher Roads in Niagara County