The History

An advertisement promoting the development of the Love Canal community said “If you get there before I do, Tell ‘em I’m a comin’ too, To see the things so wondrous true, At Love’s new Model City.” The Love Canal community was located in the eastern suburbs of Niagara Falls, New York. It was a blue collar community that, at its peak in 1978, included 800 single family homes and 240 low income apartments with about 400 children attending the local elementary school.

The area was named after William T. Love, an entrepreneur who thought that digging a canal between the upper and lower Niagara Rivers could provide cheap energy for the industry and homes that he envisioned surrounding it. Love did not complete the canal project due to a weak economy and personal financial struggles. The last of the construction on the canal was in 1910 which left a 3,000 foot long, 7 to 16 foot deep and 80 to 100 foot wide ditch.

The canal was sold at public auction and in the 1920’s, it became a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite. Of the dumping that took place there, Hooker Chemical Company (HCC) was a known major contributor that dumped more than 20,000 tons of waste between 1942 and 1953. According to company records, 80 percent of the chemicals dumped were hexachlorocyclohexanes, benzylchlorides, organic sulfur compounds, chlorobenzenes, sodium sulfide/sulfhydrates, various chlorinated waxes, oils, naphthalenes and anilines, benzoyl chlorides, benzotrichlorides, liquid disulfides or chlorotoluenes. There were at least 200 different known chemicals dumped into the canal. One of the most prevalent chemicals, benzene, is a known human carcinogen.

In 1953, after the canal was full, HCC covered the canal with soil and sold it to the Niagara Falls Board of Education for one dollar. The walls had been covered with thick clay and more clay was used to cover it when dumping commenced. In the deed, the known presence of chemical wastes buried on the property was disclosed it was stated that HCC would be absolved of any future liability at the site. In 1955, the city built the 99 street

site and the playing fields of the school were located directly over the filled area. After finding out about the chemicals, the architect in charge of building the school questioned the safety of the building. Since he was unable to identify what had been dumped, he mentioned that the presence of the waste filled pit could weaken the foundation. The Board of Education decided to move on with the building of the school. The Love Canal community built up around the school and by the late 1950’s, 100 homes had been built. By 1972, the majority of the houses with backyards closest to the canal had been built.

Over the years, the clay walls were weakened from the building that took place above ground. After a particularly precipitous year in 1978, the chemicals in the canal exploded which led to their leaching into the surrounding areas. It was this year that the Love Canal residents became aware of the existence of a leaking chemical dump site. A front page story in the August 1, 1978 New York Times read “Twenty-five years after the Hooker Chemical Company stopped using the Love Canal here as an industrial dump, 82 different compounds, 11 of them suspected carcinogens, have been percolating upward through the soil, their drum containers rotting and leaching their contents into the backyards and basements of 100 homes and a public school built on the banks of the canal.”

Environmental and Human Health Effects

The first reported problems occurred in the mid 1970s but in the 1950s there were complaints about strong odors which were usually attributed to chemical companies nearby. In the 1970s, noticeable environmental effects included containers of waste coming up through the ground, trees and other plants dying, puddles of chemicals in yards and basements and a noticeable chemical odor. There were even “rocks” that would explode when dropped. Studies done by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) found 421 different chemicals in air, water and soil samples taken from the area.

Children playing outside would come home with burns on their hands and faces and other skin irritation was seen among children and dogs who had been playing near the school. In addition, birth defects, miscarriages and high white blood cell counts, which are a potential precursor of leukemia, were common. One study found that 56 percent of children born between 1974 and 1978 suffered from some type of birth defect. Miscarriage rates were as high as 50 percent in the mid 1960's. The rates of health problems seen included high numbers of deformities among newborns, blood disease, cancers, epilepsy, hyperactivity and urinary tract disease. It was common for many health problems (ex. hearing loss, skin irritation) to improve or disappear after moving out of the community.

After the community faced these problems for multiple years, New York Department of Health Commissioner, Robert Whalen, finally declared the Love Canal area to be a threat to human health and fenced off the area surrounding the canal in spring 1978.

Remediation

The Health Commissioner declared a health emergency at Love Canal approximately five months after the immediate canal area had been fenced off . On August 7, New York Governor, Hugh Carey, told residents the state government would purchase all “Ring 1” houses, those closest to the landfill, and later the purchase of houses in “Ring 2” as well. The same day, President Carter approved emergency financial aid for the area, which was the first time emergency funds were approved for a non-“natural” disaster. The Senate also approved a “sense of Congress” amendment which stated that Federal aid would be forthcoming. That same month, the 99 street recommended.

Cleanup began in October of 1978 which included the installation of a drainage trench around the perimeter of the canal to be used to prevent waste from permeating into the surrounding area. A second Federal emergency was declared at the Love Canal site due to controversy about the extent of the contamination and health effects due to it. In July 1980, Congress authorized funding for the emergency relocation and purchase of another 550 homes.

Love Canal was added to the EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL) in October, 1981 and was the first Superfund site. The EPA’s efforts included the removal and containment of the chemicals. Methods to contain the chemicals included the construction of a barrier drain and leachate collection system and the installation of an impermeable synthetic material over the clay which would ideally prevent rain from entering the canal. A drainage system was designed to treat any water runoff. The 239 houses closest to the canal and the elementary school were demolished.

Love Canal Today

Cleanup of the site took approximately 21 years and the cost was estimated at $400 million. Most of the work did not end until the early 2000's. The EPA issued a report in September, 2003 which stated that the site was adequately controlled and in 2004 it was determined to be clean enough to be taken off the Superfund list. It does, however, remain on the NYS Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Program. Approximately 260 houses north of the canal site were renovated and sold and 150 acres east of the site were sold for light industrial use to commercial developers.

Love Canal is one of the most notorious environmental disasters to occur in the United States. The lessons learned from improper waste disposal and the late evacuation of residents can help to inform future waste disposal and policy so that no disaster to this extent can happen to a community again.

ehanfman@masonlive.gmu.edu