cleanup · Erie County
Buffalo Gas Light Gas Holder / 31 Tonawanda Street
Buffalo
Former gas-holder property near Scajaquada Creek. State investigation documents the historic gasometer and evaluates coal-tar impacts associated with the adjoining former Westwood manufactured-gas plant area.
The documented story
What happened here?
The 31 Tonawanda Street property held a Buffalo Gas Light gasometer near Scajaquada Creek. A gas holder stored manufactured gas but did not necessarily perform the full production process on the same parcel.
The same address also belongs to Brownfield Cleanup Program Site C915299, which combines the 31 Tonawanda industrial building parcel and the separate 150 Tonawanda former railroad parcel. The building property was developed in the early 1900s for Fedders manufacturing, with metal stamping, soldering, brazing, welding, painting, acid washing, and degreasing. That completed brownfield remedy must not be confused with the separate C915299A off-site investigation.
DEC's off-site investigation evaluates the gas-holder area and coal-tar impacts in relation to the adjoining former Westwood/Iroquois manufactured-gas landscape. The shared geography requires careful source attribution rather than assigning every nearby coal-tar finding to the gasometer parcel.
A vanished gas holder connects city lighting to Scajaquada Creek
The circular footprint at Tonawanda Street preserved a neighboring gasworks story
1897-1955approximate operating period of the adjoining Westwood gasworks
1900-1950s
A gasometer stored manufactured gas beside the creek corridor
The Buffalo Gas Light holder appears on 1900, 1916, and 1950 Sanborn maps and a 1927 aerial. Across the property line, Westwood operated a manufactured-gas plant with three additional gasometers and later continued gas storage.
1950s-1972
Highway and redevelopment erased the visible machinery
The Buffalo Gas Light holder was gone by a 1959 aerial as the Niagara Thruway was being built. Westwood structures were removed in stages; records describe buried heavy tars, sludge, coal, coke, and demolition debris during plant closure and later redevelopment.
Modern investigation
Coal tar forced investigators to look beyond parcel lines
Investigation of 31 Tonawanda Street and its off-site area evaluated subsurface holder remnants and the relationship to Westwood. The state report concludes that coal tar from the adjoining plant migrated toward Scajaquada Creek, while keeping the source properties and cleanup obligations distinct.
Chemical guide
Chemicals named in this record
These links explain potential hazards and exposure pathways. A chemical named in a record does not establish that anyone was exposed or harmed.
Chronology
Timeline
- Manufactured-gas era
A large gas holder operated at 31 Tonawanda Street near the creek.
- Early 1900s onward
The gas holder disappeared and Fedders manufacturing and later industrial uses occupied the 31 Tonawanda building property; the separate 150 Tonawanda parcel retained a railroad history.
- 2018–2020
The two-parcel C915299 brownfield was investigated and remediated, and DEC issued its Certificate of Completion in December 2020.
- 2023
DEC's C915299A off-site report evaluated subsurface conditions and their relationship to adjoining former manufactured-gas operations.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Coal-tar-related compounds are a documented concern in the adjoining manufactured-gas area.
- Historic gas-holder foundations and fill can create preferential accumulation or migration pathways.
- Available records do not justify attributing every nearby coal-tar finding to operations on the gasometer parcel itself.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- The completed C915299 brownfield remedy and site-management plan govern the 31 and 150 Tonawanda parcels; the first reviewed periodic report found its controls compliant during the reported period.
- The C915299A off-site investigation separately characterizes coal-tar-related conditions and possible migration from adjoining properties.
- Safe soil and groundwater management remains required during intrusive work, but any future off-site remedy should be described only after DEC issues the corresponding decision document.
Then and now
The site today
This location combines a completed brownfield with a continuing off-site source investigation. The gas-holder history and adjoining manufactured-gas contamination are documented, while the atlas preserves uncertainty about which historical operation caused each individual finding.
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.
Manufactured-gas plant network
These sites share a historic gas-manufacturing system and recurring contaminant profile. Their classifications range from active cleanup to completed management and preliminary investigation; they are a comparative network, not one connected plume.
The former Buffalo Service Station / Blue Cross–HealthNow property is a completed cleanup and redevelopment example.
Managed remedy and active creek investigationIroquois Gas / Westwood PharmaceuticalThe former Iroquois Gas source area and lower Scajaquada Creek show how coal tar can require both constructed controls and continuing downstream investigation.
Class 4 Tonawanda siteGastown Former Manufactured-Gas PlantThe Gastown record shows how the same industrial system appeared in the City of Tonawanda.
Active Lockport programTransit Street Former Manufactured-Gas PlantTransit Street extends the comparative MGP record to Lockport.
Completed West Seneca cleanupMineral Springs Road Former Manufactured-Gas PlantMineral Springs Road documents another separately bounded former gas-manufacturing property.
Gas-holder propertyBuffalo Gas Light Gas Holder / 31 Tonawanda StreetThe Tonawanda Street holder site represents storage infrastructure within the historic manufactured-gas system.
Class 2 State Superfund siteJamestown Former Manufactured-Gas PlantJamestown is an action-required site with documented coal-tar liquid and possible migration toward the Chadakoin River.
Active Dunkirk programDunkirk Former Manufactured-Gas PlantDunkirk remains under active investigation and cleanup review, including off-property and bedrock groundwater work.
Potential Niagara Falls siteNiagara Falls Former Manufactured-Gas PlantHistoric maps establish the gasworks near the Rainbow Bridge area, while DEC's Class P status preserves uncertainty about current cleanup needs.
Potential Salamanca gas propertySalamanca Former Gas PropertyThe Salamanca record documents gas purification and distribution history but does not yet establish on-site manufactured-gas production or a required remedy.
Research status
Open questions
- Locate historic Sanborn maps, ownership records, boring logs, and DEC's final source interpretation.
- Keep the point linked to—but not merged with—the Iroquois Gas / Westwood record.