Love Canal

Background

By the end of the 19th century, Niagara Falls, New York, was a heavily industrialized city. To provide hydroelectricity for local industries, in 1894, Love began construction of a canal connecting the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. A few years later following the discovery of alternating current, financial support for Love's canal bottomed out and construction ceased. Then, in 1942, Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation purchased the incomplete canal and its surrounding land for use as a toxic waste dump. A decade later, the canal filled to capacity with almost 22 tons of mixed chemical waste, the site was closed and covered with dirt. During its 10 years as a toxic waste dump, hundreds of chemicals, including halogenated organics, pesticides, chlorobenzenes, and dioxin, were disposed of at Love Canal. In 1953, Hooker Chemicals sold the property to the Niagara Falls Board of Education for $1. Within the year, a school (the 99th Street School) and residences were built around the former landfill.

From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, Love Canal residents complained of chemical odors, surfacing chemicals, and minor explosions and fires. But it was not until 1976 and 1977 that high groundwater levels due to heavy rains revealed widespread contamination. According to firsthand reports, corroding waste-disposal drums surfaced, vegetation began dying off, and pools of noxious chemicals formed in yards and basements. Testing for toxic chemicals in soil, air, and water by health agencies, prompted by unremitting reporting by the Niagara Falls Gazette, confirmed the presence of contamination.

Government Response

In 1978, the New York State Department of Health Commissioner, Robert Whalen, responded to the crisis by declaring a health emergency. Immediately, the 99th Street School was closed, and pregnant women and children below 2 years of age residing closest to the site were evacuated. Over the next 2 years, President Jimmy Carter declared the site a federal state of emergency twice, and about 950 families were relocated from within a 10-mile radius of the site. The use of federal disaster assistance at Love Canal marks the first time federal emergency funds were granted for a nonnatural disaster. In 1980, the Carter Administration passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund, largely in response to the Love Canal crisis.

Health Consequences

Early epidemiological studies of the potential health effects experienced by Love Canal residents have had inconclusive or conflicting results. These studies were limited by a number of factors, including the lack of precise exposure data, small sample size and selection bias, recall bias, and lack of control for confounders. A 2006 study by the New York State Department of Health investigated mortality, cancer incidence, and reproductive outcomes of Love Canal residents. Although this study had limitations similar to those of the earlier research, it suggested increased rates of congenital malformations and proportions of female births. The study also revealed an increased number of adverse reproductive outcomes for women exposed as a child or whose mothers resided in Love Canal during pregnancy.

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