1. Love Canal
History, Risk, Hydrology, Geology, Hazardous Waste Management & Air Pollution
Jess W Everett
Rowan University

2. L O V E C A N A L
ublib.buffalo.edu

3. Love Canal, ~2006

4. Love Canal, NY, USA Canal turned Municipal Dump turned
Chemical Landfill becomes
Health Disaster leads to
US Superfund Program
Superfund
Purpose: clean up uncontrolled contaminated sites
Superfund: because it was so big (in the beginning)

5. Love Canal Timeline 1890s 1920s 1953 Niagara Falls, NY
William Love starts hydroelectric project
Only completes short section of canal
1920s
Canal turned into municipal/industrial dumpsite
1953
Hooker Chemical Company closes dumpsite
Sells to city for $1
Eventually turned into neighborhoods & schools… (

6. Love Canal 1927 Aerial
Love Canal
ublib.buffalo.edu

7. Love Canal 1978 Aerial Canal is from upper left to lower right.
Bare white spots are where plants won’t grow.
ublib.buffalo.edu

8. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
April, 1978, Newspaper series
On hazardous waste problems in Niagara Falls, NY including Love Canal
April, 1978, Residents
Concerned about health risks from Love Canal, call on local and state health authorities for answers
April 25, 1978, NYS Health Commissioner
Confirms public health hazard at Love Canal
Orders Niagara County Health Department to remove exposed chemicals and install fence
April, 1977, Lois Gibbs, resident and mother of two,
Canvasses neighborhood with petition to close school located near center of dumpsite
Gibbs’ five year old son attended kindergarten in school
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

9. Love Canal - Chemicals
Hexachlorocyclohexane, chlorobenzenes, chlorinated hydrocarbons, benzene, chloroform, trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, benzene hexachloride, phosphorous, and polychlorinated biphenyls
Dioxin (estimated 60 kg)
(jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick)

10. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
May 19, 1978, NY State Health Department
Meets with residents for first time to explain potential hazards
August 2, 1978, Small group of residents
Drives to Albany, NY to present petition to close school to NYS Health Department
August 2, 1978, NYS Commissioner of Health
Declares State of Emergency at Love Canal
Orders school closed and clean up plan to be undertaken immediately
Recommends pregnant women and children under two living in area immediately surrounding Love Canal landfill should move
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

11. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
August 7, 1978, US President
Declares Love Canal neighborhood an emergency
Provides funds to permanently relocate 239 families
Families in remaining 10-block area, including Lois Gibbs’ family, told they are not at risk
February 8, 1979, NYS Department of Health issues 2cd evacuation order
Pregnant women and children under age of two in 10 block area outside first evacuation zone of 239 homes should leave
Once child turns two years of age or pregnancy terminated, family is to move back into contaminated neighborhood
September 8, 1979
300 additional families living within 10 block neighborhood temporarily relocated as a result of health problems caused by chemical exposures from the clean up activities
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

12. (Love Canal,
Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

13. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
May 17, 1980, US EPA
Announces results of blood tests showing chromosome damage in Love Canal residents
Residents told that this means they are at increased risk of cancer, reproductive problems and genetic damage
May 19, 1980, Love Canal residents
“Detain” (hold hostage) two Environmental Protection Agency representatives
Challenge US President to relocate all families by Wednesday (May 21st) at noon or “What we’ve done here today, will look like a Sesame Street picnic compared to what we’ll do then”
(Lois Gibbs, President of the Love Canal Homeowners Association)
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

14. Health Studies LCHA’s study of ‘79-’80 found increases in
miscarriages, still births, crib deaths,
nervous breakdowns, hyperactivity,
epilepsy, and
urinary tract disorders
August, NYS Department of Health
awarded $3 million to conduct follow-up health study of families
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

15. Health Studies (cont)
2006 – Preliminary results (Caution – Small data set)
Mortality rates about the same
Cancer rates
Overall lower!, but higher rates of bladder, kidney and lung cancers
Bladder and Kidney especially higher amongst those w/ childhood exposure
Reproduction
More likelihood of having a girl
More birth defects (2x higher! but based on small numbers)
Mothers living near LC during pregnancy more likely to have premature or small babies; Not so if pregnancy occurred after moving away
Love Canal Follow-up Health Study
Prepared by the Division of Environmental Health Assessment Center for Environmental Health New York State Department of Health
for the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
2008
Overall mortality rates were similar to those of NYS and NC, but rates were
elevated for certain specific causes of death, compared to NYS: chronic rheumatic heart
disease (in men), acute myocardial infarction, and external causes of injury (primarily
motor vehicle accidents and suicide). In the internal comparisons, exposure as a child,
defined by combination of sex, age and residence, was associated with mortality from
cancer and acute myocardial infarction, but these findings were based on small numbers
and therefore the estimates were imprecise. For cancer incidence, the results of the
external comparisons indicated that the total number of cancers observed among Love
Canal residents was within the range expected for NYS and NC. The respiratory and
digestive systems were the only major organ systems to show any elevation, and some
individual sites such as gall bladder, kidney, bladder, testis, liver and rectum also showed
elevations. Due to small numbers, these elevations remained within the range of rates
that would be expected by chance. Some of these findings, however, are consistent with
other investigations. For instance, excess lung cancer was observed in a previous study
of the Love Canal census tract, and kidney, bladder, and other cancers have also been
reported among persons occupationally exposed to chlorinated benzenes and aniline
compounds such as those found at Love Canal.
Reproductive outcomes were examined among the women who lived in the EDA
prior to or during their reproductive years. The rates of preterm and small-for-gestational
age (SGA) births among these women were similar to those in NYS and NC, and the
rates of low (LBW) and very low (VLBW) birth weight tended to be lower. In the
internal comparisons, LBW and SGA were consistently associated with potential
exposure as a child, defined as a combination of sex, age and residence. The ratio of
female to male births among these women was higher than in either comparison
population; in the internal comparisons, the proportion of female births was positively
associated with childhood exposure and with conception in the EDA. Such an effect has
been reported among men heavily exposed to dioxins at Seveso, Italy. Rates of
congenital malformations were twice that expected compared to the external standard
populations, a difference that exceeded the range of rates expected by chance alone. In
addition, the internal comparisons revealed that malformations were positively associated
with potential exposure as a child. There also was a tendency for children born to
mothers who lived on the Canal at some time during their pregnancy to be at higher risk
for low birth weight, preterm births and small-for-gestational age than those conceived
after the mother left the Canal area. Similarly, children conceived on the Canal were
more likely

16. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
May 21, 1980, US President
Agrees to evacuate all Love Canal families temporarily until permanent relocation funds are secured
October 1, 1980, President Carter
Visits Niagara Falls & signs appropriation bill providing funding for permanent relocation for all 900 families who wished to leave
December 20, 1983, Lawsuit filed by 1328 Love Canal residents
Settle for ~ $20M dollars with Occidental Chemical
$1M set aside for Medical Trust Fund
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

17. Love Canal 1980 Aerial Taken from almost directly over Love Canal
ublib.buffalo.edu

18. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
September 1988, NYS Department of Health
Completes 5 year Habitability Study
Concludes some portions of Love Canal “as habitable as other areas of Niagara Falls”
September 15, 1989, People from across US
Join former Love Canal residents at NY capitol to protest decision to move new families back to Love Canal
January 19, 1990, Lois Gibbs and others
Meet with E.P.A. Administrator in attempt to block resettlement of northern portion of Love Canal
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

19. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
April 1, Community leaders from across state/nation & one-time residents of Love Canal
Hold major rally in Niagara Falls to protest resettlement
August 15, 1990, Love Canal Revitalization Agency
Renames portion of Love Canal, Black Creek Village
Announces 9 homes available for sale to general public
November 28, 1990, First new family
moves into Love Canal, but further efforts to sell homes move slowly
Regional banks unwilling to accept mortgages for Love Canal homes
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

20. Love Canal Timeline (continued)
April, 1992, Federal Housing Administration
Agrees to provide mortgage insurance to families who wish to purchase Love Canal homes
June 22, 1994, Occidental Petroleum
Agrees to pay $98 million to cover New York State’s cleanup costs
January 5, 1995, Occidental Chemical
Takes over full operations and maintenance of chemical waste treatment plant at Love Canal.
December 22, Occidental Petroleum
agrees to pay $129 million to cover the federal government’s cleanup costs at Love Canal.
= $247M
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

21. Love Canal, ~2006

22. Love Canal, ~2008

23. Love Canal 2011

24. Love Canal – Initial Engineering
Original Dump Site
Hooker Chemical followed then law
Lined dump with concrete
Capped it with porcelain and clay
Tried to keep city from building on site
Probably would have failed eventually even if left alone
Damaged by various building activities, including sewer construction
(jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/)

25. Love Canal 1978 Aerial Canal is from upper left to lower right
ublib.buffalo.edu

26. Love Canal - Exposure
Water table in the canal rose and fell, rain infiltrated, creating leachate
Leachate moved out through
Topsoil to homes built nearby
Old stream bed that crossed canal and underground sand layers into the basements of adjacent homes
Significant health impacts in families
Living near site, or
On old stream beds near site (

27. Love Canal – Cap and Collect
(Love Canal, Center for Health, Environment and Justice,

28. Love Canal – Site Remedation
Initial Actions – 1978, NYS
Leachate collection system and treatment plant
landfill area covered and fenced
1981, EPA
Fence around Black Creek
Environmental studies
Landfill Containment , EPA
Barrier drain
Leachate collection system
Replaced temporary clay cap with synthetic
Demolished contaminated houses & school adjacent to Canal
More studies
Monitoring (4 years later!!!)

29. Love Canal – Site Remediation
1985, NYS
40-acre cap
Improved leachate collection
New leachate treatment facility
Sewers, Creeks, and Berms , EPA ROD
Cleaned / inspected sewers (>60k ft)
Removed / stored contaminated sediment (>40k cu-yd)
Last of sediment thermally destroyed and disposed of in 2000
93rd Street School EPA ROD
Excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soils completed 1992
Demolished school subsequently

30. Love Canal – Site Remediation
Properties
Federal government & NYS purchased affected properties
Maintained and rehabilitated properties
~ 260 homes have been resold
A new senior citizen housing development constructed in habitable section
Portion of cap required liner replacement and regrading in 1993
Love Canal deleted from National Priorities List in 2004

31. Love Canal 2011
Toxic chemicals found in sewers in the “habitable” section of Love Canal in Feb. 2011
Center for Health, Environment & Justice, CHEJ

32. Superfund Program - USA
Clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites
Started 1980
25 years later
construction work complete at 966 (62%) private and federal Superfund sites
work underway at additional 422
Still, 1 in 4 Americans live < 5 km from a Superfund site
There are thousands of Non-federal sites
(pubs.acs.org) (

33. Superfund and Landfills
Many sites are old municipal landfills that also accepted industrial wastes
We need to make sure current and future landfills don’t become dangerous sites… (

34. What are Your Experiences?
Spend a few minutes talking in groups of 3 about waste sites in your hometown or county
Landfills or other types
Health impacts?
Clean up attempts?