The Love Canal Tragedy.
The use of the love canal as a damping site has made it one of most memorable environmental tragedies in the history of the American nation. Started as a noble idea to energize the industrialization process of Niagara region, the site became a major damping site for toxic waste by The Hooker Chemical Company. This paper seeks to identify the underlying reason behind the failure of the love canal project and the environmental consequences it had to the local residents of Niagara. The author also takes a look at the steps taken by government in trying to resolve the love canal environmental disaster crisis as well as its significance and impact to environment conservation measures in the United States.
Reason behind the Love canal project
It was due to the need for having sustainable electricity supply that the love canal project was initiated, spearheaded by William T. Love, an entrepreneur. The dream idea aimed at digging a canal between the upper and lower Niagara Rivers as a way of realizing a cheap source of electricity for the industrialization and development of a model city in the region. To be noted here is the fact that electricity is the most important element that determines any process of industrialization. It is due to this reason that the love canal idea got much support from the many stakeholder of the human community. It is however to be noted that the invention of the long distance transmission of electricity by Nikola coupled with the economic crisis of the later 19th century were the reasons behind the failure of loves dream. The economic crisis led to the withdrawal of sponsorship towards the realization of the project. It has also been claimed that the governments legislation seeking to preserve the Niagara Falls was another factor leading to the fall of the project.
Love canal health disaster
The failure of the love canal project made the site a major damping site of wastes by the municipality of Niagara Falls. The wastes were mainly chemical waste products by the Hooker Electrochemical Company which by 1952 had damped over 21000 tons of toxic chemical waste. Despite the fact that the site was covered with toxic chemicals, the quest for land led to the purchase of the land by the Niagara Falls Board Of Education. This led to the construction of a street school and residential houses in the region. It is to be noted that the construction process led to the exposure of some of the drums containing chemical wastes, a major health risk to the local residents. Still to be stated is the fact that the construction of the LaSalle expressway made the canal an overflowing pool of chemically contaminated water during rain seasons. The residence was thus marked with many complains of strange smell and evidence of substances that surfaced from the site.
According to statistical evidence, it has been clearly established that there were many incidences of miscarriages and mental redundancy among the residents of the region. This led to the declaration of the region as an environmental disaster by the Environmental Protection Agency of America in 1979. Many cases of nervous disorders as well as incidences of cancer and other birth defects had been evidently found to be affecting the residents of Niagara Falls. The research by the Environmental Protection Agency greatly linked such health hazards to the availability of chemicals in the region. It is however to be noted here that the ignorance of both government and the Hooker Chemical Company to address the problem worsened the health crisis for the residents. The legal battle between the locals and the Hooker Company were marked with much complexity owing to the fact that the locals could not sufficiently prove Hooker Companys responsibility for the health disaster. This led to the governments involvement in resolving of the problem which was marked with the demolition of the school and other residential properties in the region. It was a recommendation by many that all pregnant mother, and children below the age of two years should be relocated to other safe places to avoid the potential health risks that were eminent in the region .
Love canal cleanup
The many claims by the public in concern for their health safety led to the involvement in cleaning up the Niagara region. This led to the declaration of the region as a health emergency in the 1978 by the then United States president Jimmy Carter. The relocation of the nations funds to deal with the problem led to the relocation of the residents in the region. Many other operations like the removal of the chemical wastes were conducted as away of seeking for a lasting solution to the problem. It was also due to this declaration of a state of emergency by the federal government that many scientific research findings found a direct link between the chemicals and the illness of the residents. A 1979 research established that there were high incidences of leukemia among the residents of Niagara Falls. The findings also showed that there were many cases of chromosome damage among the residents of the love canal. It should be noted here that the love canal health disaster is the reason behind the legislation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act which seeks to impose responsibility to environmental polluters for damages resulting from their acts.
Love canal today
The modern love canal is marked with only few residents. It is only an estimated 10 percent of the original residents who have opted to remain with most of the others selling their properties. It is however to be realized that even those remaining are willing to relocate to other safer areas. Still to be stated here is the fact that the region has been fenced with barbed wire to ensure the safety of the residents. The process of unearthing the toxic chemicals from the region is still going on under the custodianship of the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA) (Brook, 2006). It is however to be recognized that restoring the public confidence of love canal safety will not be a simple act by the government of America following the eminent health risks that were witnessed by the residents.
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