Lake Ontario Ordnance Works Information

In 1944, the Manhattan Engineer District (MED) obtained a portion of the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW) from the Department of Defense (DoD) for storage of low-grade radioactive residues resulting from pitchblende ore processing at the Linde Ceramics facility. In 1948, when the DoD decommissioned the LOOW, the AEC acquired 1511 acres of the site, including the original storage areas. The AEC declared most of this property as excess in 1955 and by 1968, the General Services Administration was able to dispose of 1298 acres, with 213 acres remaining under AEC control. In 1975, additional property was transferred to the town of Lewiston, leaving the present 191-acre site. The DOE portion of the site became known as the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS). The site remained under DOE control until 1997 when it was transferred to the Corps of Engineers under the FUSRAP program.

Following World War II, Linde Ceramic’s refinery was decommissioned and contaminated equipment was disposed of at the LOOW. Contaminated materials from other MED/AEC facilities were also shipped to the LOOW for disposal. Beginning in 1949, residues from operations at the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works were shipped to the LOOW for storage. During the early 1950’s, the AEC portion of the LOOW was also used for interim storage of uranium and thorium billets and rods being processed by various New York companies.

During 1953-1954, the AEC constructed a boron isotope separation plant at the LOOW, which began operations in 1954. The operating contractor for this plant was the Hooker Electrochemical Company, which referred to it as Plant 31 (P31). In 1958, the facility was placed on stand-by and a maintenance contractor, Page Airways, was employed for routine surveillance. The operation was restarted in 1964, with the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Company (NUMEC) as the operating contractor until April 17, 1967, when NUMEC sold all of its assets to the Atlantic Richfield Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, which was given the name NUMEC II. NUMEC II was the operating contractor until 1971, when the boron facility was again placed on stand-by with the National Lead Company of Ohio (NLO) as the caretaker. In 1981, Bechtel National took over the caretaker contract and began plans for remedial work at the site. Clean-up began in 1982.

Alternative Names

• LOOW
• Niagara Falls Storage Site
• NFSS

Type of Facility

• Department of Energy

Covered by EEOICPA

• Part B and Part E

EEOICPA Covered Years

• 1944-1997

Contractors

• 1953-1958 Hooker Electrochemical
• 1958-1964 Page Airways
• 1964-April 17, 1967) Nuclear Materials and Equipment Company (NUMEC)
• April 18, 1967-1971 NUMEC II
• 1971-1981 National Lead Company of Ohio
• 1981-1997Bechtel National

Army Corps of Engineers

• FUSRAP-Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste

DOE

• DOE Facility List by Name

DOL

• Tracking your DOL Claim Status
• Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health
• Ombudsman’s Office
• Resource Center
• DOL Case and Claim Statistics
• Site Exposure Matrix
• Approved Special Exposure Cohorts
• Bulletin 10-02: Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW) SEC Class

NIOSH

• FAQs About Your Case
• Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health
• NIOSH Case Statistics
• Special Exposure Cohort Status Table
  • Petition 145: “All employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at Lake Ontario Ordnance Works in Niagara Falls, New York, from January 1, 1944 through December 31, 1953, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees included in the SEC.”
• Work Site Information

Other Resources

• BTComp Contractor/Subcontractor Database