Period+8+-+Love+Canal

     The Love Canal Niagra Falls, New York    The Love Canal was dug between the upper and lower parts of the Niagara River. It was proposed by William T. Love in 1892, and the majority of it was dug by Love and his company. Many industries were stationed along it because they thought they could generate electric power from the canal's water. Unfortunately, the canal was unsuccessful and eventually became a ditch that was slowly polluted. Consequently, Love sold the canal and nearby land at a public auction to the Niagara Power and Development Corporation. The new owners used this "ditch" as a municipal dumping site, similar to a landfill. Years later, in 1942, the Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation signed an agreement with the owners to dump all of their hazardous chemical wastes. At the time, it seemed like a good, safe procedure because it was convenient and out of everyone's way. Little did they know, this simple task could create a near-death experience for thousands of people.  Hooker Corporation bought the Love Canal in 1946, and dumped over 43 million pounds of chemical waste in total. This waste included benzene hexachloride, chlorobenzenes, and TCP, all of which are knwn to induce leukemia and cancer. Futhermore, these chemicals were used to create herbicides and fungicides. Obviously, these harmful chemical wastes could not result in something good. As if this dumping was not enough, the US Army dumped in their toxic chemicals, beginning in 1953, knwon as "the lethal cocktail". This same year, the Board of Education began to throw around ideas about building an elementary school on the land surrounding the Love Canal. Hooker sold the land and canal to the Board for only one dollar, promising to not blame Hooker Corporation for any damage or injury that could occur. It seems logical to not agree with this, because that promise foreshadows a larger problem in the future. Although this was not smart,the school was built. After a short period of time, children began to get severe rashes, burns, and minor hair loss. Local animals became bald and died And on it went...

As the hazardous dumping continued, the canal began to flood. Local residents called the substance a “black, oozing sludge.” Basements started having a dreadful smell and swimming pools began to crack, allowing the sludge to seep through the cracks. Scientists and doctors discovered that the hazardous substance from the canal resulted in miscarriages, birth defects, bronchitis, and even chromosome damage. Some cases resulted in nervous disorders, institutionalizing a few and even suicide attempts. Nearby families were forced to evacuate their homes, which soon became demolished. The town surrounding the love canal started turning into a ghost town, because nobody wanted to live in such a polluted, nearly deadly town. In fact, test results proved that the chloroform content in nearby homes’ air was at levels one hundred times more than what was considered to be a significant cancer risk! Furthermore, dioxin levels were at 17.2 parts per million; .0002 parts per million are toxic to animals. This horrific, long-term incident was said to be the largest environmental pollution suit filed by the Department of Justice. The lawsuit against Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation turned out to be $200 million.. Not quite a piece of cake!  What now…?  The Environmental Protection Agency established many acts and new laws to ensure the protection of Americans, especially those targeted by environmental disasters. The EPA made grants available to all states to launch safe-handling and disposal programs of harmful and hazardous wastes. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">As expected, the EPA currently has a system in which nearly 35 million tons of hazardous waste are safely disposed of. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Sine this major incident, acts that have been established are the following: <span style="COLOR: #f15004; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Clean Air and Water Acts
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Safe Drinking Water Act
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Pesticide Act
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Toxic Substances Control Act

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: #bbdf58; FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif">Sources: <span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Davis, Lee. "Love Canal Pollution." __Environmental Disasters: A Chronicle of Individual, Industrial, and Government Carelessness__. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc., 1998. 112-16.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Beck, Eckardt C. "The Love Canal Tragedy." __US. Environmental Protection Agency__. 21 Sept. 2007. 12 Nov. 2008 <span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.htm>.


 * Comments: Overall, it was throughly written, but it has a lot of excess information. The page is very nice to look at and flows nicely. CV Pride, way to represent.

I like your pictures, they represent your disaster very well. Too much to read into for the information that I would be looking for.

The display of the whole page is set up very nicely, and I can tell you put work into this project. I think there is too much writing and my attention span can't keep me reading it long enough. Good job though!**