cleanup · Erie County
Iroquois Gas / Westwood Pharmaceutical
Buffalo
Former manufactured-gas plant at Dart and Bradley Streets. Long-term terrestrial and creek remedies remain under management, while DEC continues investigating historic coal-tar impacts in the lower Scajaquada Creek area.
The documented story
What happened here?
This profile connects—but does not merge—the former Iroquois Gas manufactured-gas plant and later Westwood Pharmaceutical property with the adjoining lower Scajaquada Creek investigation. Manufactured-gas plants heated coal or oil to make fuel gas, leaving coal tar and other dense wastes that can persist in soil, groundwater, and sediment.
The terrestrial and riparian cleanup areas, DEC sites 915141A and 915141B, have constructed remedies under continuing management. The separate former Buffalo Gas Light / Iroquois Gas potential site, 915351, and the downstream creek area remain under investigation.
One gasworks story continues from land into lower Scajaquada Creek
Iroquois Gas and Westwood require connected but separate terrestrial, riparian, and creek records
3 recordsterrestrial, riparian, and continuing creek investigation
Manufactured-gas era
Coal-gas production created a dense subsurface source
The Iroquois facility produced manufactured gas before the modern natural-gas network. Coal tar and associated compounds could sink, move through groundwater, and enter sediment pathways.
Later Westwood use and remedies
A second industrial era occupied the former gasworks landscape
Pharmaceutical and related uses followed. DEC divided constructed terrestrial and riparian remedies into separate records with continuing caps, monitoring, and management.
2021-present
Investigation follows the unresolved creek connection
Site characterization evaluated soil, groundwater, vapor, and the relationship to lower Scajaquada Creek. That creek work remains an investigation rather than a completed corridor-wide cleanup.
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
Iroquois Gas operated a manufactured-gas facility in the Dart and Bradley streets area.
- Later industrial use
Westwood Pharmaceutical and related industrial activity occupied portions of the property.
- 2021–2022
DEC-directed site characterization evaluated soil, groundwater, soil vapor, and the relationship to nearby Scajaquada Creek.
- October 2022
DEC issued the site-characterization report that anchors the present public record.
- 2024–2025
Periodic review documented continuing management of the riparian remedy and preparation of a remedial investigation and feasibility study for lower Scajaquada Creek.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Coal tar and coal-tar indicators were identified in subsurface materials.
- Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and PAHs were among the contaminants evaluated in site media.
- The site's proximity to Scajaquada Creek creates a potential migration pathway that requires source- and location-specific interpretation.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- A terrestrial containment system and groundwater collection control remaining source material at the former plant property.
- The riparian remedy included contaminated-sediment removal, creek-bottom capping, and a sheet-pile barrier.
- Long-term inspection, monitoring, and maintenance continue while the downstream investigation defines whether additional action is needed.
Then and now
The site today
This is a mixed-status story: constructed remedies remain under management at the terrestrial and riparian sites, while additional lower-creek investigation and cleanup planning continue. The map must not imply that every nearby property or all of Scajaquada Creek is one cleanup boundary.
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.
Buffalo River industrial corridor
Industrial parcels, former disposal areas, sediment remedies, and restored habitats form a shared river corridor while retaining separate ownership and cleanup records.
The river is the organizing environmental system for this collection.
Chemical-manufacturing shorelineBuffalo ColorBuffalo Color represents a major industrial parcel with documented sewer and shoreline pathways.
Steel and coke landscapeRepublic SteelThe former Republic Steel landscape links heavy industry, managed brownfields, and riverfront redevelopment.
Former industrial propertyIroquois Gas / Westwood PharmaceuticalThis property adds a distinct industrial and cleanup history within the broader river corridor.
Peninsula cleanup areaKatherine Street PeninsulaThe peninsula record connects upland contamination, shoreline conditions, and river restoration.
Landfill and steel propertyAlltift Landfill / Ramco SteelAlltift links filled industrial land to the river corridor's disposal history.
Recovered landscapeTifft Nature PreserveTifft shows the corridor's transition from industrial and filled land to habitat and public use.
Confined-disposal and habitat siteTimes Beach Confined Disposal SiteTimes Beach connects dredged-material management with later habitat value.