Alcoa Massena: work history and asbestos evidence
Alcoa Massena West and the former Reynolds Metals Massena East were historically separate aluminum plants. Their names, departments and operating histories can help identify where someone worked. A 2016 survey excerpt also documents specific asbestos-containing materials at former Reynolds Building 722A; it does not establish an individual worker’s exposure.
What the public record tells us
More than a century of aluminum production
Alcoa states that Massena Operations began in 1902 and describes it as the world’s longest continuously operating smelter. The Town of Massena likewise identifies aluminum production as a defining part of the community’s industrial history.
Massena site records include an asbestos-landfill alias
EPA’s Alcoa Aggregation Site profile lists several historical site names, including “ALCOA ASBESTOS LANDFILL” and “ALCOA MASSENA OPERATIONS.” That is a site-record identifier worth preserving when matching old documents and memories.
A longtime Massena worker’s allegations identify specific work and materials
In Borman v A.O. Smith Water Products Co., a New York court summarized claims involving a worker employed at Alcoa/Reynolds Metal in Massena from 1952 to 1995, including alleged exposure associated with industrial materials and equipment during portions of that career.
What Alcoa's Massena operation did
Massena is an aluminum-smelting and casting operation with a history reaching back to 1902. Alcoa describes the site as the world's oldest continually operating aluminum smelter. Modern operations include potrooms, a casthouse and on-site manufacture of green and baked anodes used in aluminum-reduction cells.
Memory cue: potrooms, anode operations, casthouse work, molten metal, rod/billet/sow production, maintenance shutdowns and heavy electrical or mechanical equipment can help distinguish where a worker or contractor spent time at the site.
Alcoa Massena — memory anchors
1902
Aluminum production began at Massena.
20th century
The site evolved through multiple generations of aluminum-smelting technology while remaining a major North Country industrial employer.
2022
Alcoa marked the Massena operation's 120th anniversary.
Current operation
The facility produces aluminum sow, rod and billet for industries including automotive, aerospace, military, construction, electronics and packaging.
Alcoa Massena location information → Alcoa Massena fact sheet →
Alcoa Massena West and Reynolds Metals Massena East: which plant do you remember?
Massena West was the longstanding Alcoa operation. Massena East was the former Reynolds Metals Company St. Lawrence Reduction Plant. EPA records describe the East and West plants as historically separate operating entities. Alcoa acquired Reynolds Metals in 2000; the former Reynolds plant was subsequently known as Alcoa East.
Massena West — Alcoa
EPA identifies the West plant with Alcoa's original Massena operation, near the lower Grasse River and the power canal. Someone who remembers Aluminum Company of America or Alcoa may be referring to this operation, but employment dates and work areas still matter.
Massena East — Reynolds Metals
EPA identifies the former Reynolds Metals facility at 194 County Route 45, approximately eight miles east of the village of Massena. EPA says it was constructed in 1958, later became known as Alcoa East, and closed in 2014. A worker who remembers Reynolds, the St. Lawrence Reduction Plant, or Alcoa East may be describing this separate facility.
Memory cues: Was the employer called Reynolds, Alcoa, or Aluminum Company of America? Did you work in a potroom, carbon or anode area, casthouse, electrical shop, boiler area, maintenance crew, or for an outside contractor? Remembered departments and equipment help guide record searches; they do not establish that a particular asbestos-containing product was present.
EPA's modernization document describes the East plant's then-existing anode pin room, carbon plant, cathode digging and alumina/coke conveying equipment, as well as boilers. It discusses proposed modifications, which should not be mistaken for completed construction or evidence of asbestos use.
Historical relationship: EPA's Reynolds site record also places the former General Motors Powertrain/Central Foundry facility nearby. These are distinct worksites; proximity does not establish that an individual worked at both.
The environmental records cited here address plant history and environmental conditions. They do not by themselves establish an individual's occupational asbestos exposure. The existing DII trust-list reference on this page names Aluminum Co. of America; it should not automatically be assigned to the separate former Reynolds plant.
Building 722A: asbestos findings documented in a 2016 plant survey
A Reynolds Metals Company, LLC submission dated August 6, 2025 includes a demolition scope of work dated May 16, 2025, reproducing a table from the Alcoa East Plant ACM Survey of May 2016. The table identifies specific materials tested at Building 722A, the Pitch and Fuel Oil Pump House, at the former Reynolds St. Lawrence Reduction Plant. This evidence concerns Massena East, not Alcoa Massena West.
Asbestos identified by testing
The survey excerpt reports anthophyllite asbestos in exterior window glazing (1.1%) and exterior window caulking (5.6%). It reports chrysotile asbestos in exhaust-stack panel caulking (1.7%), vent-hood flashing (4.6%) and vent-stack flashing (7.8%). These percentages are reported laboratory results for sampled materials, not exposure measurements.
Suspected, but not sampled
Pipe flange gaskets and electrical components are listed as suspect asbestos-containing materials in the survey excerpt. They should not be described as laboratory-confirmed asbestos products.
Samples with no asbestos detected
The excerpt reports no asbestos detected in sampled yellow block pipe insulation, gray masonry mortar and roof felt paper. This finding applies to those samples, not necessarily to every similar material in the plant.
The 2025 scope also states that additional testing in 2023 identified asbestos-containing flashing around vents at the east end of Building 722A. It reports that hard-pack fittings in Building 735, the Channel Press Building, were abated in 2019; the underlying 2019 abatement report has not been independently reviewed.
Why the building matters: historical facility records describe Building 722A as a pump house associated with pitch and fuel-oil transfer for carbon/anode operations. Remembered building numbers, pump work, maintenance assignments, pipe fittings, exterior repairs, and contractor projects may help identify which additional records to request.
Evidence limitation: The 2016 survey and 2025 demolition specifications document materials at the time of those investigations. They do not establish installation dates, the materials present in earlier decades, a particular worker's contact with asbestos, or the identity of an asbestos-product manufacturer.
Primary record: Reynolds Metals Company, LLC, Response to Comments on the Self Implementing Plan for PCB Remediation (August 6, 2025), attachment 2025 Phase 4 Demo SOW Massena East (May 16, 2025), especially PDF pages 128–130, including “Table 1 — Excerpts from Alcoa 2016 ACM Survey; Updated to delete 2019 abatement work.” The original document should be consulted for the table and building-specific context.
How this can help reconstruct a work history
Historical records are most useful when they are connected to the person who actually worked there: the years, department, trade, tasks, equipment, contractors and coworkers remembered by the family. A documented workplace history can guide the questions; the individual work history supplies the context.
Alcoa or Reynolds?
Families may remember different company names or operations. Preserve the name actually remembered and the approximate dates.
Smelter, casthouse, remelt or another operation?
Department and process can point toward different equipment, maintenance work and records.
Employee or contractor?
Alcoa itself notes generations of employees and contractors. Employer identity can be important when searching work records and coworkers.
Primary and authoritative sources
- Alcoa — Massena Operations 120th anniversary Company history
- U.S. EPA — Alcoa Aggregation Site, Massena Government record
- New York Supreme Court — Borman v A.O. Smith Water Products Co. (2015) Court decision
Continue the investigation
North Country research → industrial workers → GM Massena name record →
This workplace appears in an official DII site list
The DII Industries, LLC Asbestos PI Trust’s official Exhibit A list identifies Aluminum Co. of America in Massena, New York. The source-listed relationship is HAL 1937-07-06–1982-12-31.