What Company Was Responsible for the Love Canal

Despite the disclaimer, the school board began construction of the 99th Street school at its originally planned location. In January 1954, the school`s architect wrote to the Education Committee, informing them that during excavations, workers had discovered two landfills filled with 55 US gallons (210 L; 46 gallons) containing chemical waste. The architect also noted that it would be a “bad policy” to build in this area, as it was not known what waste was present in the ground and the concrete foundation could be damaged. [26] The school board then moved the school grounds from eighty feet (24 to 26 m) to the north. [3] The kindergarten playground also had to be moved, as it was located directly on a chemical dump. In 1890, Love Canal was developed as a model planned community, but only partially developed. In the 1920s, the canal became a municipal dumping ground for the City of Niagara Falls. In the 1940s, the canal was purchased by the Hooker Chemical Company, which used the site to deposit 19,800 tons (19,500 long tons; 21,800 short tons) of chemical by-products from the manufacture of dyes, fragrances, and solvents for rubber and resins. U.S. District Court Judge John T. Curtin for the Western District of New York concluded that “it is indisputable” that Occidental`s disposal of tons of hazardous waste in the 1940s and 1950s was “at least partly responsible” for its subsequent defection to the Love Canal community of Niagara Falls. New York. Initially, scientific studies did not conclusively prove that the chemicals were responsible for the residents` illnesses, but scientists were divided on this issue, although eleven known or suspected carcinogens were identified, one of the most common of which was benzene.

Dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins) were also present in water, a very hazardous substance. Dioxin levels are generally measured in parts per trillion; At the Love Canal, water samples showed dioxin levels of 53 parts per billion (53,000 parts per trillion). [53] Geologists were recruited to determine whether underground swales were responsible for transporting chemicals to surrounding residential areas. Once there, the chemicals could enter basements and evaporate into the domestic air. The 99th Street School, on the other hand, was located within the former boundaries of the Hooker Chemical landfill. The school was closed and demolished, but the school board and the chemical company refused to accept responsibility. The 93rd Street school closed about two years later for fear of seeping into toxic waste. In the early 1990s, New York State completed its cleanup and declared parts of the Love Canal area safe for life. The area north of the landfill was renamed Black Creek Village and the state began auctioning homes there. In 1994, Occidental agreed to pay New York $98 million to compensate the state for its contribution to the Love Canal purge.

The following year, the company also reached an agreement with the federal government and agreed to pay $129 million over three years. The school district sold the rest of the land, allowing private developers and the Niagara Falls Housing Authority to build homes. The sale proceeded despite a warning from Hooker`s attorney, Arthur Chambers, that, as paraphrased in minutes of a board meeting, the land was not suitable for construction where underground facilities would be required due to chemical waste dumped in the area. He explained that his company could not prevent council from selling the land or doing whatever it wanted with it, but that he intended to use the property for a school and parking. He added that they felt the property should not be shared for the purpose of building houses and hoped no one would be hurt. [27] However, Curtin decided that the company could not invoke such a “third party defence” because it was bringing the pollution to the site and was therefore at least partially responsible for the “release or threatened release of chemicals from the Love Canal landfill in subsequent years.” I visited the canal area at the time. Corrosive garbage barrels pierced the backyard terrain. Trees and gardens turned black and died. An entire pool had emerged from its foundations and was now floating on a small sea of chemicals.

Puddles of pollutants were shown to me by the residents. Some of these puddles were in their yards, others in their cellars, still others on the school grounds. Everywhere, the air had a slight suffocating smell. The children returned from playing with burns on their hands and faces. [44] After the project was abandoned, the canal gradually filled with water. [9] Local children swam there in the summer and skated in the winter. In the 1920s, the City of Niagara Falls used the canal as a municipal landfill. [ref. needed] The Love Canal area was originally the site of a deserted canal that became a dumping ground for nearly 22,000 tons of chemical waste (including polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and pesticides) produced by the Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation in the 1940s and 50s. Over the next few years, the site was filled in and handed over by the company to the growing city of Niagara Falls, allowing for the construction of apartments. However, in 1978, state officials discovered leaks of toxic chemicals from the basement into the basements of homes in the area.

Although the school board condemned some nearby properties, Hooker agreed to sell his property to the school board for $1. In his letter to the board of directors, Hooker agreed to enter into negotiations, stating that “having regard to the nature of the property and the purposes for which it was used, it will be necessary for us to include in the deed special provisions relating to the use of the property and other relevant matters.” Council rejected the company`s proposal that the deed require that the land be used only for parking purposes, as the school itself is built nearby. [20] Prior to the delivery of this Support Instrument, the Recipient was hereby notified by the grantor that the premises described above were fully or partially filled with waste generated by the Licensor during the production of chemicals at its Niagara Falls facility. New York, and the recipient assumes all risks and responsibilities associated with the use.