LOVE CANAL DISASTER

THE LOVE
CANAL
DISASTER

A TOXIC TRAGEDY.

GIVE ME LIBERTY. I'VE
ALREADY GOT DEATH.
- FROM A SIGN DISPLAYED BY
A LOVE CANAL RESIDENT,
1978

HISTORY

Love Canal, neighbourhood in Niagara Falls,
New York, U.S, that was the site of the worst
environmental disaster involving chemical
wastes in U.S history.

It is a cruel irony that Love Canal was
originally meant to be a dream community.
That vision belonged to the man for whom the
three-block tract of land on the eastern edge
of Niagara Falls, was named-William T. Love.

Love felt by digging a short canal between the
upper and lower Niagara Rivers, power could
be generated cheaply to fuel the industry and
homes of his would be model city.

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 (including polychlorinated biphenys,
dioxin and pesticides) produced by the Hooker
Chemicals and Plastics Corporation in the
1940s and '50s. In the following years, the site
was filled in and given by the company to the
growing city of Niagara Falls, which allowed
housing to be built on it. In 1978, however,
state officials detected the leakage of toxic
chemicals from underground into the
basements of homes in the area. Subsequent
investigations estabalished an abnormally
high incidence of chromosomal damage the
area's residents, presumably caused by their
long-term exposure to the toxic chemical
wastes.

CHRONOLOGY

1942

HOOKER CHEMICAL COMPANY was searching a place to dispose a large quantity of
chemical waste and purchased the canal to used the site to dumpy over 19 800 KG
( 43 700 lb) of chemical by product from the manufacturing of perfumes dyes and

solvents for rubber and synthetic resins.



1950s

Hooker Chemical Company close the dumpsite and sell it to Niagara Falls Board of
Education for $1. - Elementary school (99th Street) opens. - Chemical seepage into

basement is reported

1970s

Surface of dump collapse and barrels of chemical exposed. - NYDEC widespread
contamination of sewers ans sumps in the neighbourhood. - Local reporter begins

investigation . -Love Canal Homeowners Association (LCHA) formed. -President
Carter declares a " state of emergency". -USEPA contracts for a pilot study of

chromosomal damage. -All families would be gone from the most contaminated
areas -- a total of 221 families have moved or agreed to be moved.



1980s

U.S Justice Department files a lawsuit against Hooker Chemical Company. - CERCLA
( Superfund) is enacted. - Federal government closes its-on-site office in Niagara

Falls . - Former residents and Occidental settle lawsuit. - New clay cap installed
over canal. - Some former resident receive compensation. - USEPA decide to burn
soil contaminated with dioxin. - Occidental Petroleum Company found liable for

cleanup costs . - Consent agreement reached between the U.S government and
Occidental.

1990s

Occidental Chemical Corporation was permitted to move the 15,496 double-lined
plastic bags to its plant site in Niagara Falls for storage. Each bag contained about 3
tons of waste. Occidental was able to send less-contaminated materials to a landfill
in Utah. The final act of the cleanup was focused on containing the remaining waste

under a thick clay cap and high-density synthetic liner and surrounding it with a
barrier drainage system. * THE CLEAN UP PROCESS TOOK 20 YEARS AND $400
MILLION .







2004

Love Canal superfund site was deleted fromNational Priorities List (NPL).
The EPA removed the Love Canal site from the Superfund National Priorities

List in September 2004.



NOW

Love Canal site was transformed into what is now referred to as Black Root Village.
It has been a functioning neighborhood since 1996. • Neighborhoods west and north
of the former canal have been restored. • The area continues to be monitored and

will remain eligible for any necessary cleanup in the future.

Causes of Incident

Urban waste was dumped from Niagara Falls
into Love Canal. (1920)

U.S. Army dumped waste from World
War II. (1940)

Love Canal land was covered with clay
consisting estimately 21,000 tons of
hazardous chemical waste.

During construction in buliding the
neighborhood, canal's clay cap and walls were
breached, damaging some of the barrels.

Consecutive wet winter raised the water table
which leads to leach into basement and yards of
neighbourhood residents, playground and
elementary school .

HEALTH EFFECT

Birth defects and many anomalies such
as enlarged feet, heads .hands and legs.
The New York states health
department investigated and found an
abnormal incidence of miscarriages.

There is a children , Michael Gibbs –
began attending school in September
1977 , he developed epilepsy in
December , suffered from asthma and a
urinary tract infection and also had a
low white blood cell count, - because of
his exposure to the leaking chemical
waste.

There was high rate of unexplained
illnesses, miscarriages and intellectual
disability.

In 1979, the love canal residens undergo
blood test and EPA announced the

result of blood tests which showed a
high white blood cell count that lead to

leukemia and also the damage of
chromosome. 33% of residents had

undergo chromosomal damage



Several studies reported that is higher
level of low birth weight babies and

birth defects among exposed residents.

The National Research Council noted a
study which found the exposed children
that have an excess of seizure, learning

problems, hyperactive, eye irritation,
skin rashes, abdominal pain and

incontinence , also stunted growth.



“ In one case, two out of four children in
a single love canal family had birth

defects ; one girl was born deaf with a
cleft palate , an extra row of teeth and
slight retardation , and a boy was born

with an eye defect.”

LOVE CANAL THERE IS NO
TRAGEDY "AWAY"

ABANDONED TOXIC WASTE DUMPS

Table 1
Results of tracing the 6,181 members of the Love Canal cohort.


Tracing results No. (%)


Known to be alive in 1996 and current address is known 5,241 (84.8)
Known to have died in the follow-up period 1978–1996 725 (11.7)
Known to be alive in 1996 but current address is unknown 13 (0.2)
Lost to follow-up sometime from the date of interview to 1996 47 (0.8)
No information available 155 (2.5)
Total 6,181

Lesson Learned

Do proper disposal of
hazardous waste is important in

protecting the public health



Proper leachate collection, treatment
systems, adequate lining and cover
systems shall be provided for the
hazardous landfill sites.



Educate people and environmental
practitioners about environment
protection and health effects of
hazardous waste.

REFERENCES

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649222/
https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/envirobiology/chapter/6-4-

case-study-the-love-canal-disaster/
https://www.slideshare.net/katemaso/mason-love-canal

https://www.britannica.com/place/Love-Canal
https://www.archieve.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy.html