Forty years ago, Love Canal, near Niagara Falls in New York State, was an environmental nightmare that awakened America. Approximately 22,000 tons of chemicals, stored in steel drums, buried and capped in clay from 1942 to 1953, had leaked into the adjacent working-class homes. By 1978, the released diozin, halogenated organics, chlorobenzenes, heavy metals and hazardous waste had begun to produce high incidences of heart disease, cancer, rashes, kidney failure, allergies, immune diseases, epilepsy, asthma, migraines, nephrosis, birth defects, leukemia and miscarriages. Today capped, fenced and closely monitored almost two decades following EPA remediation, the 70-acre site still contains most of the chemicals. Some positive results were Superfund legislation and our state environmental agencies. But the best outcome was the inspiration to prevent similar future events. (Thanks to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the Love Canal images.)
