FMC Middleport Facility

FMC Corporation's Middleport Facility is a pesticide formulation and packaging plant that formerly manufactured arsenic-based and other pesticide products. As a result of past manufacturing operations and waste disposal practices beginning in the 1920s at this facility, chemical releases have occurred at the site that have affected sediment, surface water, soil, and groundwater at the facility's property and in adjacent off-site areas.

Site Location

The FMC Corporation Facility encompasses approximately 103 acres and is located in the southeast corner of the Village of Middleport in the Town of Royalton, Niagara County. It is surrounded by commercial properties to the south, agricultural properties to the east and residential properties to the north and west. The Royalton-Hartland (Roy-Hart) School is located immediately north of the site.

Corrective Actions to Address Environmental Contamination

Cleanup to address environmental contamination at this site is being addressed by DEC's Resource Conservation and Recovery (RCRA) Corrective Action and State Superfund programs, in cooperation with New York State Department of Health (DOH). These cooperating agencies are referred to as "the Agencies" for convenience in project documents.

In May 2013, a final remedy was selected to clean up areas known as "Air Deposition Area #1" (referred to as Operable Unit [OU] #2 and #4) and "Culvert 105" (referred to as OU #5). The plan is fully described in the May 2013 Final Statement of Basis (PDF) (2.4 MB). The Final Statement of Basis presents the remedy selected to address FMC's arsenic contamination and reduce the risk associated with exposure to the contamination.

Arsenic is a natural component of soils, and there is some level of risk associated with exposure to arsenic even at natural (background) concentrations. Exposure to elevated levels of arsenic is known to cause cancer and other adverse health effects in humans. Once absorbed in the body, the arsenic (regardless of where it came from) poses an increased risk for arsenic-related health effects. For information regarding arsenic, its related health effects, and the levels associated with the clean-up efforts, see DOH's frequently asked questions and fact sheet on soil cleanup objectives on the FMC Middleport Project Documents Page.

For More Information

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For more details regarding the status of remedial activities see the following pages below.