Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Love Canal Disaster

Love Canal is a neighborhood inNiagara Falls, New York, United States, infamous as the location of a0.28 km2 (0.11 sq mi) landfill that became the site of an enormousenvironmental disaster in the 1970s. Decades of dumping toxicchemicals harmed the health of hundreds of residents; the area wascleaned up over the course of 21 years in a Superfund operation.

In 1890, Love Canal was created as amodel planned community, but was only partially developed. In the1920s, the canal became a dump site for municipal refuse for the cityof Niagara Falls. During the 1940s, the canal was purchased by HookerChemical Company, which used the site to dump 19,800 kg (43,700 lb)of chemical byproducts from the manufacturing of dyes, perfumes, andsolvents for rubber and synthetic resins.

Love Canal was sold to the local schooldistrict in 1953, after the threat of eminent domain. Over the nextthree decades, it attracted national attention for the public healthproblems originating from the former dumping of toxic waste on thegrounds. This event displaced numerous families, leaving them withlongstanding health issues and symptoms of high white blood cellcounts and leukemia. Subsequently, the federal government passed theSuperfund law. The resulting Superfund cleanup operation demolishedthe neighborhood, ending in 2004.

In 1988, New York State Department ofHealth Commissioner David Axelrod called the Love Canal incident a"national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concernfor future generations". The Love Canal incident wasespecially significant as a situation where the inhabitants"overflowed into the wastes instead of the other way around". The University at Buffalo Archives house a number of primarydocuments, photographs, and news clippings pertaining to the LoveCanal environmental disaster; many items have been digitized and areviewable online.

Geography

Love Canal is a neighborhood located inthe city of Niagara Falls in the northwestern region of New Yorkstate. The neighborhood covers 36 blocks in the far southeasterncorner of the city, stretching from 93rd Street comprising thewestern border to 100th Street in the east border and 103rd Street inthe northeast. Bergholtz Creek defines the northern border with theNiagara River marking the southern border one-quarter mile (400 m)away. The LaSalle Expressway splits an uninhabited portion of thesouth from the north. The canal covers 16 acres (6.5 ha) of land inthe central eastern portion.

Early history

In 1890, William T. Love, an ambitiousrailroad entrepreneur, prepared plans to construct a pre-plannedurban community of parks and residences on the shore of Lake Ontario,believing it would serve the area's burgeoning industries withmuch-needed hydroelectricity. He named the project Model City, NewYork.

After 1892, Love's plan incorporated ashipping lane that would bypass Niagara Falls. He arranged backingfrom financial banks in New York City, Chicago, and England. DuringOctober 1893, the first factory opened for business. In May 1894,work on the canal began. Steel companies and other manufacturersexpressed interest in opening plants along Love Canal. Love beganhaving a canal dug and built a few streets and houses.

The Panic of 1893 caused investors toend sponsorship of the project. Then in 1906, environmental groupssuccessfully lobbied Congress to pass a law, designed to preserveNiagara Falls, prohibiting the removal of water from the NiagaraRiver. Only one mile (1.6 km) of the canal was dug, about 50 feet (15m) wide and 10–40 feet (3–12 m) deep, stretching northward fromthe Niagara River.