cleanup · Erie County
Buffalo Color Area E / Former Medaille Field
Buffalo
Former Buffalo Color chemical-manufacturing parcel remediated under the Brownfield Cleanup Program and redeveloped in 2019 as the Medaille athletic complex at Buffalo Color Park.
The documented story
What happened here?
Area E is a 15.8-acre portion of the former Buffalo Color chemical-manufacturing complex. Remediation retained some contamination beneath engineered covers, plugged unused process sewers, rehabilitated storm sewers, and established long-term groundwater and cover-system monitoring.
The central and western portions were later redeveloped as athletic fields with a fieldhouse, access walks, bleachers, and parking. The sports complex is therefore an example of restricted-residential reuse supported by engineered controls—not evidence that all former industrial material was removed.
A chemical-plant parcel became athletic fields supported by engineered controls
Buffalo Color Area E shows how recreation can coexist with managed industrial ground
15.8 acreswithin the former chemical-manufacturing Area E parcel
Chemical-manufacturing era
Area E belonged to a much larger dye-production complex
The parcel shared Buffalo Color's industrial history but became its own cleanup unit. Sewers, subsurface fill, and groundwater created pathways that required a site-specific remedy.
2010-2011
The remedy prepared controlled ground rather than removing every trace
Construction established soil and pavement covers, plugged unused process lines, rehabilitated storm sewers, imposed land restrictions, and began long-term groundwater and cover monitoring.
2018-present
Athletic use depends on the remedy remaining intact
Fields and supporting facilities were built under DEC-approved controls. Inspections, cover maintenance, soil-management procedures, and periodic certification remain essential parts of public use.
News record
Major news events
Coverage selected here marks a turning point in public awareness, policy, enforcement, employment, or cleanup. Links open at the original publisher or archive; WNYAtlas does not reproduce restricted articles or images.
Area E is remediated for controlled reuse rather than unrestricted ground
Engineered soil and pavement covers, sewer work, groundwater monitoring, and institutional controls prepared one portion of the former chemical complex for compatible redevelopment.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation site record ↗Athletic fields open on the managed former industrial parcel
The reuse placed fields, a fieldhouse, walks, bleachers, and parking above a remedy that still depends on intact covers, monitoring, and limits on subsurface disturbance.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation site-management record ↗Chronology
Timeline
- Chemical-manufacturing era
The parcel formed part of the Buffalo Color dye and chemical complex.
- 2010–2011
Area E remedial construction established covers, sewer work, land-use controls, and a long-term site-management program.
- 2018
The first athletic-field and fieldhouse redevelopment phase was completed under DEC-approved controls.
- 2022
A second phase added athletic fields in the western portion of Area E.
- Present
Cover inspections, shallow-groundwater monitoring, vapor controls, and environmental-easement obligations continue.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Historic chemical manufacturing affected soil, fill, groundwater, and portions of the former process and storm-sewer system.
- Residual contamination remains beneath the integrated cover system and is managed through institutional and engineering controls.
- Potential groundwater migration and vapor intrusion require continuing monitoring or building-specific controls.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Restricted-residential areas use combinations of clean soil, gravel, artificial turf, pavement, buildings, and geotextile demarcation layers as an integrated cover.
- An environmental easement controls subsurface disturbance, groundwater use, land use, and vapor-intrusion requirements.
- Quarterly groundwater sampling, cover inspections, and operation and maintenance verify that the remedy continues to function.
Then and now
The site today
The athletic fields and fieldhouse operate above a managed brownfield remedy. The latest reviewed periodic report found the cover intact and the remedy protective, while emphasizing that inspection, groundwater monitoring, and site-management obligations remain essential.
Atlas connections
Connected places
These collections explain documented material, facility, waterway, ownership, or cleanup relationships. Inclusion does not imply that every place shares one contaminant source or plume.
Buffalo Color facility and river system
Plant parcels, sewer pathways, shoreline areas, and Buffalo River sediment records overlap geographically but are governed through different cleanup programs.
The main record covers the former dye and organic-chemical plant and its parcel-specific cleanup history.
Plant-area recordBuffalo Color Area E / Former Medaille FieldArea E is tracked separately so conditions on one portion of the former complex are not generalized to every parcel.
Receiving water and sediment remedyBuffalo RiverThe river record provides the larger sediment-remediation and habitat-restoration context for shoreline industries.