Endicott Forging: The Blighted Site No One Will Touch

An abandoned and contaminated five-acre site serves as a disturbing gateway to the village of Endicott.

The old Endicott forging property at North Street and Hayes Avenue has languished for decades.

Thousands of people drive and walk past the site every day but there seems to be little hope that there'll ever be a productive use for the parcel.

Endicott Forging operated for 85 years but the massive facility just east of what had been the IBM manufacturing complex never resumed production after a huge fire in 2000.

Demolition crews cleared the property in 2008 and efforts were launched to start cleaning up some of the contaminated site.

Investigators have determined that thousands of gallons of oil had spilled on the Endicott Forging land during the years the company operated there.

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said property ownership and lingering financial issues make it difficult to develop any viable future use for the site.

Representatives of the neighboring Huron Campus have had preliminary discussions about using the property for parking. The site is located next to the area where several unused IBM buildings were torn down earlier this year.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the cost of investigation and site cleanup so far total $1.7 million.

The agency is continuing to operate a network of groundwater monitoring wells on the property . The DEC is trying to determine what else can be done to "increase the amount of oil removed from the site."

WNBF NEWS VIDEO: A visit to the old Endicott Forging property on North Street.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.