What happened in this town? Love Canal What happened in this town?

Where is Love Canal? Love Canal was originally meant to be a dream community. The land on the eastern edge of Niagara Falls belonged to William T. Love. Love felt that by digging a canal between upper and lower Niagara, power could be cheaply generated to fuel the homes and industry of his would-be model city.

What happened? Love’s project was not successful due to economic difficulties. By 1910, all that remained of Love’s dream was a partial ditch. Later in 1920, the canal became a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite. Chemicals deposited into the canal were not sited, managed or regulated. In 1953, the canal was covered by dirt and sold to the city.

What happened? In the late ’50s, about 100 homes and a school were built at the site. It was a working community, for a while. In August 1978, the New York Times front-page article told of the 82 compounds, 11 of them suspected carcinogens, that had percolated upward through the soil. Their contents had leached into the backyards and basements of many homes and the public school. Benzene, a known carcinogen was detected in high concentrations.

Chemical Effects Puddles of noxious substances stood on the streets, some were in yards and basements. Everywhere the air had a faint, choking smell. Children suffered from burns and hands on their faces after spending time outdoors. Babies were born with birth defects, and miscarriages where quite common. Babies have been born with deafness, cleft palate and other defects. Those who lived previously in the Love Canal area are being monitored closely because of high white-blood-cell counts, a sign of leukemia.

Restoration Efforts The citizens of Love Canal were evacuated from their homes. Pregnant women and children were deliberately among the first to be taken out. Many residents knew there were chemicals in the canal, but most had no idea they were so detrimental. President Carter approved financial aid for the Love Canal Community, and the federal government purchased all affected homes.

Moving Forward A plan is set in motion to detoxify the affected area. The plan calls for a trench system to drain chemicals from the Canal. Efforts continue to be made to make sure nothing like this ever occurs again. Chemical dumpsites across the nation are closely monitored to prevent a tragedy.