waterway · Erie County
Smokes Creek / Bethlehem Steel Discharge Corridor
Lackawanna
Lake Erie tributary crossing the former Bethlehem Steel property. Historical plant discharges contaminated the lower creek; approximately 40,000 cubic yards of affected sediment were removed in 2009. Current planning focuses on bank stabilization, habitat connectivity, flood resilience, and restoration from the creek corridor to its Lake Erie mouth.
The documented story
What happened here?
Smokes Creek runs about 15 miles from Orchard Park to Lake Erie. Its main and south branches meet in Lackawanna before the lower channel crosses the former Bethlehem Steel property. Decades of steelmaking discharges contaminated sediment, while channel alteration and hardened banks degraded habitat and changed how water moved through the industrial corridor.
The 2009 project dredged the lower 2,600 feet and removed approximately 40,000 cubic yards of affected sediment. The work was environmental cleanup and flood infrastructure at the same time: DEC's remedy record says the enlarged hydraulic capacity reduced flood potential and the need for flood insurance in a nearby upstream residential neighborhood.
In 2015 DEC dredged an additional reach on the Tecumseh property to maintain that flood capacity. Current watershed planning is broader still, examining habitat and flood-mitigation opportunities along the creek and Lake Erie shore from Woodlawn to Buffalo's Outer Harbor rather than implying that sediment excavation alone restored the whole system.
Connected history — steelmaking moved a creek and burdened its lower channel
Smokes Creek became a discharge route, a cleanup reach, and a restoration corridor
40,000 yd³approximately, contaminated lower-creek sediment removed in 2009
Industrial expansion
Manmade shoreline converted a tributary into plant infrastructure
Bethlehem's integrated works surrounded the lower creek with slag fill, waste areas, hardened banks, outfalls, and flood-control structures. Historical mapping places the 1912 mouth near a railroad crossing about one-half mile inland from today's Lake Erie outlet.
2009
Sediment removal addressed a documented steelworks discharge pathway
Approximately 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment were removed from the lower reach. EPA attributes that material to historical Bethlehem Steel discharges and notes that excavation also improved hydraulic capacity and reduced flooding potential in Lackawanna.
Present planning
The next chapter joins habitat, flood resilience, and public access
The lower creek remains confined through industrial land while agencies evaluate native riparian vegetation, habitat connectivity, bank conditions, flood resilience, and public awareness. Those plans complement—not replace—the broader Bethlehem groundwater and waste-area remedies.
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.
About 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated lower-creek sediment are removed
Dredging addressed a major legacy discharge pathway through the former steel property, but continuing sediment, bank, groundwater, flood, and habitat work remained tied to the larger Bethlehem cleanup.
Former Bethlehem Steel cleanup program ↗Residents and local officials debate how cleanup choices shape waterfront reuse
Public meetings and reporting connected Smokes Creek dredging, the acid-tar area, on-site consolidation, habitat, and future waterfront access—documenting community participation without treating redevelopment preference as exposure evidence.
WKBW ↗Chronology
Timeline
- Steelmaking era
Plant discharges and industrial alteration affected the lower creek.
- Investigation and design
Agencies characterized contaminated sediment and selected removal.
- 2009
Approximately 40,000 cubic yards of affected sediment were removed from the lower 2,600 feet, improving both contaminant conditions and channel capacity.
- 2015
DEC dredged the remaining Tecumseh-property reach to maintain flood capacity.
- 2024 onward
State and local partners began a corridor-scale habitat opportunity assessment incorporating public input, connectivity, bank condition, and flood resilience.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Industrial contaminants accumulated in lower-creek sediment.
- Channelization and altered banks reduced habitat quality and connectivity.
- The corridor is influenced by both legacy contamination and present hydrologic and erosion pressures.
- Conditions in the industrial lower reach do not automatically describe the upstream branches, Woodlawn Beach, or every point along the Lake Erie shoreline.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Contaminated sediment was removed from the lower creek.
- Source-site controls at the former steel property reduce renewed loading.
- Bank stabilization, native habitat, connectivity, and monitoring form the next restoration phase.
Then and now
The site today
Smokes Creek is a remediated industrial waterway entering a broader restoration phase. The 2009 sediment removal was substantial but did not by itself restore all habitat or eliminate watershed pressures.
For nearby residents, the record is not only about contaminated mud: maintaining channel capacity and rebuilding ecological function are part of the same long-term public obligation.
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.
Bethlehem Steel and Smokes Creek
The former steel complex and its watercourse are linked by documented industrial use, discharge history, cleanup, and shoreline restoration.
The Bethlehem record covers the former steelmaking property, waste areas, parcel cleanups, and redevelopment.
Watercourse and discharge corridorSmokes Creek / Bethlehem Steel Discharge CorridorSmokes Creek carries the connected waterway story while remaining distinct from the land-based facility remedies.
Waterway connection
See the documented waterway record
The separate waterways map explains the documented relationship among the historic waterbody, fill or sediment, and this Atlas site without crowding the regional map.
Linked research mapSmokes Creek shifted mouth and confined channel →