Love Canal, Niagara Falls

Love canal is a neighborhood within the Niagara falls, the city most notable for its 3 breathtaking waterfalls. This particular neighborhood however is most known as the location of a major ethical disaster.

Plans for a ‘model city’

Towards the end of the 19th century, Love canal began to develop as a model planned community with plans for housing, community parks and a hydroelectric plant. The project however was abandoned due to a lack of funding during an economic depression.

Hooker Chemical Company

The abandoned canal became a landfill site for the city of Niagara falls during the 1920’s. The Hooker Chemical company began dumping its chemical waste in the canal in 1942, and the company preceded to buy the site in 1947. By 1948, the city had stopped using the site to dump waste, and The Hooker Chemical company became the sole users of the site. In the 10 years they used the site, 19,800 tonnes of chemical waste was dumped. The site closed as a landfill in 1952, and the canal was covered with a clay seal to prevent any leakage. In 1953, the company sold the canal area to the city for one dollar. Throughout the rest of the fifties the site was developed into residential area.

Contamination

Residents of Love Canal had complained for years about toxic smells and substances in and around their properties and in public places. Chemicals from the land fill had been seeping up through the soil , and eventually reaching the backyards and basements of the homes built on the banks of the canal, as well as a public school also built on the site. Trees and gardens around the canal were slowly turning black and dying, and puddles of the toxic waste were seen everywhere.

Health Impacts

There has been evidence to suspect that the contamination lead to a significantly high number of birth defects and miscarriages in the area. A large number of people were also at risk of developing leukemia due to high counts of white-blood-cells.

Response

Citizens were eventually evacuated Love Canal, and the state government purchased the homes affected by the chemicals. Financial aid was provided by the US government to help deal with the contamination.  A cleanup operation followed after the government passed the Superfund law, and the area has slowly recovered to the point where it is currently safe to live.