Environmental Issues

Introduction
Love Canal remains one of the landmark events in the United States environmental history.   Love Canal is today remembered as a mark of protecting people against toxic wastes and today, there are many movements sprouting in name of Love Canal and aimed to protect the environment.  Love Canal is well known even in high school curricula. Love Canal was an opening even that led to upsurge in activism to protect citizens from toxic wastes. It acted as impetus for creation of federal government policy and also led to setting aside of Superfund program that was aimed at cleaning up the hazardous waste materials from the site.  Twenty years later Love Canal remains an inspiration event and provides important lessons for the country. There are important lessons that can be learned from the tragedy.

Background
The history of Love Canal began way back in 1892. It began with proposal by William T. Love to build 6 to 7 miles long canal that connected upper and lower Niagara River. Love hoped that by building this canal, it would be possible to harness the water from the upper Niagara River and therefore make it navigable (Hung, Bosela and Philllips, 2006).  This would also make it possible to build a 280-foot water fall into the Niagara River which would also provide cheap electric power in the area.

However, Love dream could not have been realized as the country was engulfed in economic depression and funding for the project slipped way.  Love had to abandon the project leaving behind a section of the canal that had already been dug, 6 feet wide and 3,000 feet long.  Fearing that the land could remain unused, it was sold through public auction in 1920 and it was turned into a municipal and chemical disposal site until late 1953.  It was learned that Hooker Chemical Corporation, which was a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, had continued to dump chemical wastes in the Love Canal.  However, the City of Niagara, and the United Stats Army had also been using the site to dump chemical wastes.  It was revealed that the city of Niagara dumped garbage waste while the United States Army possible dumped parts of Manhattan project and chemical warfare materials (Hung et al., 2006).

Understanding the risk that lay underneath the canal Hooker sold the land to Board of Education for only one dollar (Beck, 1979). This however included a warning in the deed transfer that absorbed Hooker of any future liability.  The board of education did not take the warning seriously or they did not understand the risk involved and therefore they  started constructing an 99th Street school on the land, which was completed in 1955 and  admitted 400 students every year.  Around the same decade, homes were constructed in the area but home owners were not warned that the site was near a chemical dumpsite. They were unaware of that the site had been dumped with 20,000 tons of toxic wastes. By 1978, more than 800 private single-family homes and about 240 low-income homes had been built in the area and 99th Street elementary school. However, since establishment of homes, there were complains of odors and substances which surfaced near the ground but they were covered with clay immediately. In 1976, Calspan Corporation investigated the issues and in its report, it indicated that there were chemical residues in the air, drums underneath, high levels of PCBs in sewer system, and others. In 1978, New York State Department of Health conducted research on 239 families and found increased reproductive problems in women and high levels of chemical pollutants in air and soil. However, New York State was later forced to close down 99th Street school and evacuated all pregnant women and children under the age two (SFAA Project, 2001). It later proposed to purchase all 239 homes which were closest to the canal. Love Canal affair led to formation of Love Canal Homeowners Association and Love Canal Parents Movements.

Love Canal provides important lessons for the United States. It was the first man made canal that received President declaration when President Carter declared Love Canal federal emergency plan due to health and environmental risk that was posed by the Canal (Hung et al., 2006).  Owing to the mass media attention it received, Love Canal provided an impetus for interest in the change to the environment as a result of human activities.  Most importantly, the tragedy showed the world the importance of identifying hazardous waste and need for proper disposal of waste as a matter of public interest.

Methods
In order to understand the important lessons that have been learned from Love Canal disaster, this study will take a critical review of literature pertaining to Love Canal, how it affected the public around, and government response to the epidemic.  Love Canal acted as an important event in the history of the United States on environmental matters.  Love Canal events have been subject for research and study which means there are more sources from research studies and government publications that can be used as source of information about the tragedy. Consequently, this study will set out inclusion and exclusion criteria for the sources to be used in the study. First, the source will have to be credible source. This means that primary sources, which documents actual events as they unfolded in Love Canal will be used. Primary sources will include actual statistics and reports that were published in the course of the study. Second, the study will also use credible secondary sources. This includes sources which were published by credible organization and government that were based on primary sources. Government policy programs that were implemented in the course of the crisis will be included in the study since they reveal government response to the crisis.  The study will also review studies that have been implemented carried out on various aspects in relation to Love Canal. Third, the study will also consider information from credible websites. Criteria for inclusion of websites in the study will be those with .org and .gov address.

Under the above criteria, the following sources were included in the literature review

Results
It is evident that Love Canal was a turning point in the history of the United States on environmental issues. Love Canal however revealed the underbelly of capitalism in the society. It showed how corporations would go for profit at expense of the public. Today only 10 of the original Love Canal settlement remains. Others have moved leaving the areas a deserted settlement.

The first important lesson that was learned from Love Canal was the effects of environmental toxic materials on health. Love canal has been described as a tragedy because it caused irreversible health conditions to most people.  Residents of the area experience many reproductive defects and many children were born with birth defects. Although only five birth defects were recorded, these statistics were not conclusive because some may not have been reported.  In addition, many people who lived in the area have been under close observation as they were reported to have had high white blood cell count which could clearly be a precursor for leukemia.  However, it was commendable that the government took steps and evacuated pregnant women and children under 2 years who were at increased risk of suffering health effects.

Love Canal was a clear demonstration of how people can suffer from ignorance and assumption of those who are supposed to take care of the population. Love Canal can be considered as a scandal since Hooker Chemical Corporation understood very well that it was selling land that had been dumped with toxic chemicals (Hung, Bosela and Phillips, 2006). To make the matter worse, the company understood that it was selling land to education department and hence it was likely to use this land to build schools. Although the land was sold for only one dollar which implies that it was given free, it would have been important for the company to make sure that the education department understood the dangers that lies beneath the land (Gibbs, 2010).   To absorb itself of any liability, the company inserted a warning clause in the sales agreement so that it could not be blamed in the future.  However, it is not still clear whether the company warned the education department of the danger that lie in the land and that it was not suitable for building schools or other settlements.  In connection with this, a lesson of importance of environmental stewardship was learned form the tragedy. There were many organizations which came up to fight for the rights of people of Love Canal and resist corporate attitudes towards the environment. It became an inspiration for environmental movements.
Another important lesson that was learned from the Love Canal is important of government involvement in assessing new settlement. When the area around Love Canal became settlement for most people, New York state government did not take any initiative to assess whether the land was fit for human settlement (SFAA Project, 2001).  From 1950s to 1970s, there was increase settlement in the area but the government did not take any step to regulate these settlements or ensure that the area inhabitable. Even when people complained of odor and substances in their house, the government did not take any initiative to investigate their concerns. In other word, the government was reluctant to act and understand why people were complaining of odor.  As servant of the people, it is important that government take fast initiative to ensure that it addresses people concern. If the government had acted earlier, perhaps the extent of detrimental effects would have been averted. The following picture shows posters which were placed warning people against going to the area but a child plays in the area.

Adapted from Ecumenical Task Force (1987)

Conclusion
Love Canal remains one of the most tragic events in the history of the United States. Love Canal tragedy mainly involved settlement of people in a Canal   that was previously as a dumpsite for toxic chemicals. When people settle in areas around Love Canal, they were not informed of the dangers that lie underneath and consequently, they complained of order and other chemical substances but no steps were taken to alleviate the condition until the government noted the seriousness of the case and evacuated the residents.  There were important lesson that could be learned from the case of Love Canal. First, Love Canal showed the negative effects of environment effects on human life. Second, it showed the corporate greed and ignorance and how it can affect people lives. Third, it emphasized the importance of fast government intervention to alleviate people problem. Overall, Love Canal was a wake up call for people to act to alleviate environmental damage.