Love Canal
- Date Range
- 1978 – 2004
- Title
- Love Canal
- What occurred
- Love Canal came to be after construction was halted on a canal project that branched off of Niagara Falls. Hooker Chemical Company who was located nearby saw this failed project as an opening for removing 21,000 tons of toxic chemicals by simply dumping them in the empty canal and covering it with clay. The disheartening detail involved is that the Government officially sanctioned Hooker granting them the free improper dumping rights. The biggest heartbreak with Love Canal is that the Government then allowed houses, parks, and schools to be constructed on the toxic waste dump. New York Officials and School Board members knew of the dangers, but instead chose to publicly hide them because of the cheap cost of the land. Not much was said or done until 1978 when a mother began to connect the dots between the buried canal and all the sicknesses involved in the small community. Her small, grass-roots door-to-door lobbying was difficult and small at first, but eventually grew to the national level after getting past unhelpful officials. Finally, in 1978 a state of emergency was declared and 200 families were removed. Nature is always changing and the altered water columns surrounding the Niagara caused these toxins to leak. Removing 200 residents was not enough; everyone had to go. In 1981 Regan declared another state of emergency and all remaining families were removed. Clean up projects were activated in attempts to fix the damage. In 2004, Love Canal was finally fenced in and allowed to grow naturally without the impact of humans due to the 82 horrible toxins and carcinogens that lay below the ground.
- Location
- Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY 14304
- Image Citation
- Herbeck, Dan. “Chemicals from Love Canal.” Are Love Canal Chemicals Still Making People Sick, The Buffalo News, 6 Oct. 2021, https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/exclusive-are-love-canal-chemicals-still-making-people-sick/article_3869b843-3c65-56f3-87cb-ac675fb078ec.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2021. - “Love Canal.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal. - Kleiman, Jordan. “Love Canal: A Brief History.” SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Geneseo, https://www.geneseo.edu/history/love_canal_history.
- Student name(s)
- Jackson Selent
Part of Love Canal