Love Canal

About Love Canal

Love Canal was a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, built on top of a toxic waste dump containing 21,000 tons of toxic chemicals. The Hooker Chemical Company had dumped waste in an abandoned canal from 1942 to 1953, then covered it with soil and sold the land to the school board for 1 dollar with a warning about the chemicals. A school and homes were built on and around the site. By the late 1970s, chemicals were seeping into basements and yards. Residents reported high rates of birth defects, miscarriages, and asthma. Activist Lois Gibbs organized the community and demanded government action. In 1978 and 1980, President Carter declared federal health emergencies, the first time emergency funds were used for a non natural disaster. Approximately 800 families were permanently relocated. Love Canal led to the creation of the Superfund program in 1980, which taxes polluters to clean up toxic sites. Over 1,300 Superfund sites have been identified nationwide.