A Study Of The 1890s’ William T. Love’s Canal In Niagara Fall
In the 1890s, William T. Love began digging a canal near Niagara Falls, New York. The canal never saw completion, leaving a large hole in ground. This trench was eventually called Love Canal as industries began to flock to the area.
In the 1930s, chemical-waste dumps were started by several companies. Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation owned the land from 1942 to 1953. They dumped a lot of hazardous wastes into it through 1953. The company covered the canal instead of searching for a suitable place to dispose of the wastes.
The Niagara Falls Board of Education purchased the land, built a playground and an elementary school, and sold the remainder of the land to developers. Over the next 20 years, chemical waste from Love Canal started to leach into the soil, leak into basements and pollute the air. The chemical waste’s harmful capabilities were first recognized in the 1970s. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation was the first to conduct tests on this area in 1976. The results of the 1977 tests were made public by NYDEC. They revealed that groundwater and air had been contaminated. These results were reported by local citizens to the U.S. Representatives called upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
New York’s health commissioner, in March 1978, saw the USEPA Report and decided that human testing was required. Love Canal residents were given blood samples. To review the results, a panel composed of physicians recommended extreme measures. New York’s governor declared an emergency of health. The Love Canal Elementary School was closed immediately. Some families were relocated.
This event has one major ethical problem. It is the government’s willingness to let companies dump such chemicals in the ground. Before allowing people to use the area, they should have done extensive research and conducted tests. The disposal should have been known by many government officials, who should have made this information available to the public.
Author
maysonbeck
Mayson Beck is 34 years old, a Professor of Education and a blogger. She enjoys writing about education policy and teacher education, and has written for various education journals.
