cleanup · Erie County
Buffalo Service Station / Blue Cross–HealthNow Site
Buffalo
Former West Genesee manufactured-gas property where coal-gas wastes affected soil and groundwater. Cleanup was completed in 2006 and the property was redeveloped for the former HealthNow/Blue Cross headquarters, which Highmark vacated as its headquarters in 2024.
The documented story
What happened here?
A manufactured-gas plant operated on this approximately 1.65-acre West Genesee Street property from 1848 to 1948. Coal-gas production left wastes containing volatile organic compounds, PAHs, and cyanide in soil and groundwater.
After a long investigation, contaminated material was excavated and disposed of off site. New York issued a Certificate of Completion in 2006, and the property was redeveloped for the HealthNow/Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters.
A gasworks became an office headquarters after subsurface cleanup
The former Buffalo Service Station name conceals a manufactured-gas history
2006year the state-supervised cleanup was completed
Manufactured-gas era
Urban lighting left coal-gas residues below the future office site
Gas production used coal-related processes that commonly generated tar and purifier wastes. Investigation tied soil and groundwater impacts at this property to that industrial history.
Cleanup through 2006
Redevelopment required treatment of the former gasworks footprint
State-supervised work addressed source material and subsurface impacts, pairing physical cleanup with controls appropriate to the planned commercial use.
Headquarters era and after
A prominent office building changed what the property looked like
The remediated parcel became the HealthNow/Blue Cross headquarters. Highmark's later departure as headquarters changed occupancy, not the historical remedy or the continuing importance of site records.
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
- 1848–1948
Manufactured gas was produced at the property for roughly a century.
- 1989–2004
Environmental investigations defined manufactured-gas wastes in soil and groundwater.
- 2006
Contaminated soil was excavated and shipped off site under state oversight.
- November 30, 2006
New York issued a Certificate of Completion, enabling redevelopment of the property.
- 2007–2024
HealthNow and later Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield used the 257 West Genesee office complex as their Buffalo headquarters.
- July 2024
Highmark completed its headquarters move to Seneca One Tower.
Environmental record
Documented impacts
- Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes were associated with former gas-production wastes.
- PAHs and cyanide were also documented in soil and groundwater.
- The compact downtown site required cleanup compatible with a large occupied commercial building.
Response
Cleanup and controls
- Contaminated soil and manufactured-gas waste were excavated and disposed of at authorized off-site facilities.
- The completed remedy and redevelopment were documented through New York's cleanup program.
- Any remaining engineering or institutional controls must be maintained under the site's completion documents.
Then and now
The site today
The former plant is a completed-cleanup and redevelopment example associated with the former HealthNow/Blue Cross headquarters. Highmark moved its headquarters to Seneca One in 2024. Completion does not erase the site's industrial history or any continuing controls.
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.
School-map connection
See the documented campus relationship
The schools research map explains the documented property, adjacency, or mapped-parcel relationship without treating proximity as evidence of exposure or present school conditions.
Linked schools mapWATERFRONT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL →