1. Hazardous Waste Dump in a Model Community
Evie Russell
12/5/16
12/19/16
Love Canal
Hazardous Waste Dump in a Model Community 

2. Love Canal Overview Early History of Love Canal Love Canal Geography
The Backstory/Disaster
Who Bought What
Building Schools in Love Canal 
Consequences and the Aftermath
Diseases Spread
Evacuation and Remediation

3. Early History Created in the 1890's by William T. Love.
The canal was designed to connect the Niagara River to Lake Ontario.
Love planned to build what he called "Model City", a collection of parks and residences along the shores of Lake Ontario.
Love believed the canal could provide the communities hydroelectricity as power.
In 1892, Love changed his plan, including a shipping lane within the canal that would go around the falls.
Love began working on digging until the Panic of
Congress also passed a bill banning the removal of water from the river in order to preserve Niagara Falls.
The canal was never finished.

4. Geography of Love Canal
Located in Niagara Falls, the district of Love Canal spans over 36 square blocks, from 99th street to Read Avenue.
Two bodies of water border the northern and southern edges of Love Canal.
       Bergholtz Creek (N)
     Niagara River
 (S)

5. The Fall of Love Canal
In 1942, Niagara Power and Development Company gave permission to Hooker Electrochemical Company (later the Hooker Chemical Company) to dump waste into the canal.
The canal was drained and lined with a thick layer of clay.
HEC began placing 55 gallon drums of waste into the canal.
 The canal was officially purchased by HEC in 1947, but the city and army continued dumping waste for another year.
HEC continued dumping waste until 1953.
21,000 tons of chemical waste was dumped into the canal over a period of 5 years.
The barrels of waste were buried and the canal was covered to avoid any spillage.
After being filled in, weeds and grass crew over the canal, covering it completely.

6. Who Bought What
In 1954, the Hooker Chemical Company sold the covered canal.
HCC originally tried to sell to the Niagara Falls County School District.
The district refused the offer, HCC then deeded the land to the school board for $1.00
The deed included a limited liability clause and 17 page caveat.
The school board then began and completed the construction of the 99th Street School.
During construction, many containment structures were breached, resulting in the leak of chemicals from underground.

7. Chemicals & Construction
The 99th Street School
Despite the caveat, the school board went ahead with plans to construct a school.
The architect hired noted that his crew found two dump sites filled with chemical waste.
In response, the school board decided to move the school 80 feet to the north.
As soon as construction began, many structural barriers were breeched and chemical waster, combined with heavy rain storm, rose to the surface.
The 99th Street School was completed in 1955, where children began school.
That same year, the 93rd Street school opened and a twenty-five foot area nearby crumbled, creating a massive puddle filled with toxic waste and rain water that the students often played in.

8. Consequences & What Happened Next
In 1976, two reporters for the Niagara  Falls Gazette wrote an article about the testing sump pumps and finding high levels of toxic waste within them.
A year later, another reporter found that the toxins caused higher rates of birth defects and abnormalities in children born in Love Canal.
The dumpsite was declared a state of emergency in August
Lois Gibbs became an organizer of protests after her son developed epilepsy and a low white blood cell count.
After a long legal case, the residents could not prove the chemicals came from HCC and were unable to sell their homes.

9. Diseases Spread
The children of Love Canal had been breathing in toxic fumes and playing in waste their entire lives.  Many experienced symptoms such as:
Epilepsy
Hyperactivity
Learning disabilities
Eye irritation
Skin rashes
Abdominal pains
Low white blood cell counts
(precursor to leukemia)

10. Evacuation & Remediation
Houses to both the east and the west of the canal were demolished, leaving only roadways behind.
Older residents of the community chose to stay behind, their houses the only ones left standing for blocks.
Of the estimated 900 families living in Love Canal, less than 90 decided to stay after the rest were evacuated.
In June of 1980, a group called Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA) was formed to restore the area.
Both the government and the community tried to dispute that there was anything wrong in Love Canal.
The lack of interest from the public only made matters worse.
Eventually, the government evacuated and relocated over 800 families, reimbursing them for their lost homes.

11. Works Cited
"Historypin | Love Canal Images." Historypin | Collection | Love Canal Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec
"Love Canal." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Dec
"This Wholesome Community Had a Terrible and Toxic Secret From Its Past." Travel Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec