Period+1+-+Love+Canal

**Love Canal**    The Love Canal is a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York. In 1892, William T. Love proposed a plan to build a canal. The project was never completed and soon became the dumping site of toxic chemical waste. In 1953, after 20,000 tons of waste had been dumped, the Hoover Chemical Company filled the canal with dirt and sold the land. The Niagara Falls Board of Education bought the land for only $1. An elementary school and single family homes would eventually be built on the land. In the years to follow, residents of the Love Canal started to notice unusual odors coming from the ground. Many years later, in the late 1970s, tests were finally done concluding that the air, soil, and groundwater were all contaminated. The elementary school was shut down and women and children were evacuated. On August 7, 1978, the Love Canal was declared a federal emergency by Jimmy Carter, who was the president at the time. All families would eventually move out and abandon the Love Canal. 

__ **Causes** __
The Love Canal incident was directly caused by the Hooker Chemical Company. This company is responsible for dumping toxic chemicals into the canal. These chemicals include large amounts of PCBs and dioxins. These chemicals leaked through the aquifiers and inevitably contaminated Lake Ontario. __ As the toxins bioaccumulated in the marine food chain,it caused an epidemic in the reproductive failure in fish-eating seabird colonies. Also, in the 70's and 80's, people living in nearby homes became sick, and a small number of birth defects and childhood cancers took place. However,it isn't a proven fact that this this was caused by the dumpings of these chemicals.
 * Results** __



    **  <span style="COLOR: #f91522; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">__   Policies   __    ** <span style="FONT-SIZE: 70%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 70%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> <span style="COLOR: #1c2ad4; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> Because of the Love Canal toxic waste dump incident, legislation passed the superfund policy. Money needed for the Superfund was provided by the US Resource Conservation and the Recovery Act of 1976. With this, all toxic waste sites are to be cleaned up for the health of the environment and the people who live near them. This policy was also set into place for other environmentally hazardous situations. The court asked for construction of special walls to help contain the chemicals, and the installation of water and air monitering systems. All policies were set in place for the safety of those around the Love Canal.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/6/6d/Love_Canal_protest.jpg http://www.asmalldoseof.org/historyoftox/1970-2006/Love.Canal.arial.jpg http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t051/T051434A.jpg http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~eseebauer/Ethics/why2_files/image004.jpg http://www.acmecompany.com/stock_thumbnails/12440.love_canal_locator.gif "Love Canal" A Dictionary of Public Health.Ed. John M. Last, Oxford University Press. 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Cumberlnad Valley High School. 30 October 2008. <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=+235.e2635 < http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/02.htm < http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?entry=t244.e4649&srn=1&ssid=74529923#FIRSTHIT < http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?entry=t235.e2635&srn=2&ssid=74529923#FIRSTHIT Love Canal Grolier- Multimedia Encyclopedia 2008. Grolier Online. 30 Oct. 2008<http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0177170-07.
 * Pictures:**
 * Sources:**


 * Comments:**