He presented his scheme as an ambitious housing project to include a park, a hydroelectric plant and housing for 1. University at buffalo libraries 433 capen hall buffalo, ny 142601625 7166452965. The principal company that dumped waste in the canal was hooker chemical. The neighborhood is known infamously as the location of a 70acre 28 ha. Love abandoned the project after an economic depression, leaving behind a partially dug section of the canal, sixty feet wide and three thousand feet long. Dubbed chinas love canal, the toxic scandal of changzhou foreign languages school in east chinas jiangsu province hit media headlines. The toxic waste at love canal transformed the small suburb of niagara falls, and raised questions that still resonate today. It is important because the pollution disaster at love canal, along with similar pollution calamities at that time times beach, missouri and valley of drums, kentucky, helped to create superfund, a federal program. It just happened to sit atop 21,000 tons of toxic industrial waste that had been buried underground in the 1940s and. The love canal was originally planned as a model city and dream community along the eastern side of niagara falls, ny.
Love canal is an aborted canal project branching off of the niagara river about four miles south of niagara falls. Over a period of time about 100 homes were built and an elementary school was opened. Love canal university archives university at buffalo. The love canal tragedy about epa us epa epa web archive. The love canal the love canal disaster which resulted in a myriad of genetic mutations in upstate new york from 19791981 prompted civilian unrest and protests nationwide. Case study the love canal disaster biology libretexts. Clean up of love canal, which was funded by superfund and completely finished in 2004, involved removing contaminated soil, installing drainage pipes to capture contaminated groundwater for treatment, and covering it. Heck, the company didnt even want to sell the land until it was threatened with legal action to acquire it. Love proposed that a canal be built to facilitate the generation and. Love canals notorious history began when hooker chemical co. If and when individual assistance money is approved for this disaster, it will be displayed here. Lcha membership consisted of approximately 500 families living within a 10block area surrounding the love canal landfill. Aug 05, 2018 salernos lawsuit points to an incident in 2011, when a pocket of love canal waste was discovered under a sewer line outside the site.
History of fema responsibility for response to technological manmade emergencies gc97125 cumming march 30, 1979, began the incident at threemile island nuclear power station, a nrc licensee. The habitability study divided the area into seven parts. Love canal declared clean, ending toxic horror the new york. The increasing appearance of visible seepage, noxious smells and. Landfills can of course be an environmentally acceptable method of hazardous waste disposal, assuming they are properly sited, managed, and regulated. The case study is conducted on the love canal contamination issue which triggered the environmental alarm of united state at 1970s. Love canal, a tract of land in niagara falls, ny, was the site of a landfill used for the disposal of some 21,800 tons of chemical wastes. Only one prior study examined cancer incidence in former residents of the love canal neighborhood lc. In september 1988, doh issued love canal decision on habitability september 1988 44 page pdf, 1.
A year later, the company purchased the canal and turned it into a largescale industrial landfill. Sep 22, 2016 the canal was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite. The love canal was simply unfit as a container for hazardous substances, poor even by the standards of the day, and now, in 1977, local authorities were belatedly finding that out. This seriously contaminated site came to public attention in 1978. The canal was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite. If you are interested in more detailed information, a longer interview with lois gibbs is provided below. Over the next six years, more than 20,000 metric tons of chemical. It is a cruel irony that love canal was originally meant to be a dream community. The love canal area was originally the site of an abandoned canal that became a dumping ground for nearly 22,000 tons of chemical waste. Love proposed construction of a manmade canal that would ultimately link the niagara river to lake ontario, providing water and hydroelectric power for the model industrial city. Love, a man who planned to dig a short canal between the niagara rivers that would supply power to his model city. The emergency declaration areas 4 to 7 was declared habitable for residential use. New york chemical waste, love canal em3066 incident period. In the spring of 1978, lois gibbs, a local housewife, read a local newspaper story and discovered she was living a few blocks way from some 20,000 tons of toxic waste buried in an old landfill, located in the center of the love canal community.
This video also demonstrates how emotional the love canal incident was, and will hopefully give you insight as to what the events were like for love canal residents. Thus were sown the seeds that became the human and environmental disaster we know today as love canal. The love canal homeowners association love canal homeowners association lcha was established in august of 1978 to give the community a voice in the decisions made during the love canal environmental crisis. As early as the fifteenth century, long before the beginning of the industrial revolution, london was already being plagued by noxious air. The love canal refers to a neighborhood in the southeast lasalle district in the town of niagra falls, new york and houses just over 70,000 residents epa fact sheet, 2000. Prior to public awareness of the environmental and health hazards occurring across the united states, radioactive waste was nonchalantly dealt with as medical conditions were. From 1942 until 1953, hooker chemicals and plastics corporation now occ disposed of over 21,000 tons of various chemicals in the canal. The canal was to provide water and hydroelectric power for the city of niagara falls, new york. Some eightyfour years later, however, the canal became a symbol of the threat of toxic chemical wastes to human communities and the environment, and love canal became a. August 07, 1978 emergency declaration declared on august 07, 1978. Love began building a canal to connect the niagara river to lake ontario. The love canal was a rectangular 16acre, 10ftdeep chemical waste landfill situated in a residential neighborhood in niagara falls, new york. Residents say love canal chemicals continue to make them sick. May 20, 20 this is a video i made on the central case study of the love canal, for an environmental science project.
It is also the name of a fifteenacre, workingclass neighborhood of around 800 singlefamily homes built directly adjacent to the canal. History of fema responsibility for response to technological. Thirtyfive years after love canal became the symbol of the dangers of toxic waste in residential neighborhoods, the story has resurfaced. Love proposed to connect the upper and lower niagara rivers by digging a 7mile canal between them. It just happened to sit atop 21,000 tons of toxic industrial waste that had been buried underground in the 1940s and 50s by a local company. Request pdf love canal tragedy the purpose of this environmental failure case study paper is to provide educational materials for environmental. Mar 18, 2004 the removal of love canal from the superfund list will be mostly symbolic. The love canal became the first manmade disaster to receive such a designation based on a. Anyway, i dont want to drag this out, but it seems pretty obvious that in this case the cause of the tragedy was the school board and not the chemical company. In april 1945, a hooker engineer wrote in an internal memo that love canal was a quagmire which will be a potential source of lawsuit. Bergholtz creek to the north and the niagara river onequarter mile 400 m to the south.
The story of love canal begins back in the 1892 when a visionary named william t. One of the most famous and important examples of groundwater pollution in the u. Along the way, they helped launch the modern environmental movement. In 1978, love canal, located near niagara falls in upstate new york, was a nice little workingclass enclave with hundreds of houses and a school. From 1942 to 1953, the hooker chemical company, with government sanction, began using the. In the late 1950s, about 100 homes and a school were built at the site. Part 1 posted on january 11, 20 by justin ripple the comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act also known as cercla or superfund has changed the landscape of legal precedent and liability in cases of environmental contamination. Loves model city, but it was a solid, workingclass community. Salernos lawsuit points to an incident in 2011, when a pocket of love canal waste was discovered under a sewer line outside the site. The area gained its name from the late nineteenth century entrepreneur william t. Toxins were discovered in the area in 2011, and new residents have. Love canal introduction degradation of the environment resulting from human activity is certainly not a phenomenon of recent origin. Protection agency, on his visit to love canal, august 1978.
The us govt introduced the superfund as a direct response to the love canal disaster in new york state, an event that resonates strongly in china in the wake of similar incidents image by w. Love canal and its mixed legacy video thirtyfive years after love canal became a symbol of the dangers of toxic waste in residential neighborhoods, the legal. Center for health, environment and justice at the time of the first evacuation order in august of 1978, the state established the love canal interagency task force to coordinate the many activities undertaken at the canal. Love canal and the poisoning of america the atlantic. The profound and devastating effects of the love canal tragedy, in terms of human health and suffering and environmental damage, cannot and probably will. The love canal site is a 16acre landfill located in an abandoned power canal originally excavated in about 1894 by william t. Love canal was a neighborhood in niagara falls, new york.
Oct 18, 2006 love canal had its waste properly stored underground with impermeable clay. The love canal refers to one of the most tragic environmental manmade disasters in the worlds history. After spending many years abandoned, the niagara power and development company granted the love canal to hooker electrochemical company in 1942 as a place to dump. May 30, 2016 love canals residents organized, protested, and kept their story in the media for a year. Residents say love canal chemicals continue to make them. Love canals residents organized, protested, and kept their story in the media for a year. Cleanup work at love canal has been completed, more than two decades after the environmental disaster forced the evacuation of an entire neighborhood and led to. This study of toxic waste disaster at love canal as a behavioral phenomenon is. The project was initially designed to bypass niagara falls, but financial backing was lost with only a mile of the canal completed. The us love canal disaster and its legacy china dialogue. Love proposed connecting the upper and lower niagara river by digging a canal six to seven miles long. Love canal will always remain a perfect historical example of how not to run such an operation. The love canal covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the niagara falls, in new york, along what is now known as 99th street. Love canal homeowners association lcha was established in august of 1978 to give the community a voice in the decisions made during the love canal environmental crisis.
Report prepared by new york state department of health. In the late 1950s homebuilding began directly adjacent to the love canal landfill. The love canal disaster one of the most famous and important examples of groundwater pollution in the u. The significant effect of love canal concern was the creation of the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act. The landfill was covered with soil in 1953, and houses and an elementary school were built on the area immediately adjacent to the landfill. Hooker chemical and love canal by tom beauchamp the history of love canal love canal is named for william t.
A case study of love canal environmental sciences essay. The love canal incident became a symbol of improperly stored chemical waste. And, by the 1970s, the love canal became the site of one of the most appalling and worst environmental disasters in american history. Jan 11, 20 construction of the love canal began in the 1890s. He presented his scheme as an ambitious housing project to include a park, a hydroelectric plant and housing for 1 million people. As early as the fifteenth century, long before the beginning of the industrial revolution, london was already being plagued by noxious air pollution resulting from the burning of coal and wood. This is a video i made on the central case study of the love canal, for an environmental science project.
352 1029 401 1085 849 1393 385 309 1386 1341 1651 962 302 570 1414 1423 930 22 1218 499 219 995 547 560 1467 832 708 458 724 649 975 531 1183 461 1410 106 1397 543 413 1175 1229