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Love Canal

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
section of Niagara Falls, N.Y., that formerly contained a canal that was used as chemical disposal site. In the 1940s and 50s the empty canal was used by a chemical and plastics company to dump nearly 20,000 tons (c.18,000 metric tons) of toxic waste; the waste was sealed in metal drums in a manner that has since been declared illegal. The canal was then filled in and the land given to the expanding city of Niagara Falls by the chemical company. Housing and an elementary school were built on the site. By the late 1970s several hazardous chemicals had leaked through their drums and risen to the surface. Investigations confirmed the existence of toxins in the soil and determined that they were responsible for the area's unusually high rates of birth defects , miscarriages, cancer , illness, and chromosome damage. Families were evacuated from the area in 1978, and in 1980 the Love Canal area was declared a national emergency. The disaster led to the creation of the Environmental…
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Full text Article Love Canal

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
An abandoned canal in Niagara Falls, New York, that fell into use as a chemical dump, Love Canal emerged in the late 1970s as the site of the first hazardous waste disposal case to receive widespread national attention. Evidence of contamination in the surrounding area, along with its environmental…
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Full text Article Love Canal

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Neighbourhood in Niagara Falls , N.Y., the site of the worst environmental disaster involving chemical wastes in U.S. history. Originally the site of an abandoned canal, it became a dumping ground for nearly 22,000 tons of chemical waste in the 1940s and ’50s. The canal was later filled in, and…
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Full text Article Love Canal

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
section of Niagara Falls, N.Y., that formerly contained a canal that was used as chemical disposal site. In the 1940s and 50s the empty canal was used by a chemical and plastics company to dump nearly 20,000 tons (c.18,000 metric tons) of toxic waste; the waste was sealed in metal drums in a manner…
| 261 words
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Between 1942 and 1953 nearly 22,000 tonnes of chemical waste were buried in a waste disposal site at Love Canal, Upper New York state, eastern USA. The site was sold to the local board of education for just one dollar with the warning that it should not be disturbed. In fact, …
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Full text Article Love Canal

From Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
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Full text Article Gibbs, Lois

From American Environmental Leaders
(June 25, 1951-) Activist, Founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice As a mother of small children and a homemaker in the subdivision of Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, Lois Gibbs's life was transformed when she and her neighbors discovered in 1978 that their neighborhood was…
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Full text Article Brown, Michael H.

From American Environmental Leaders
(March 5, 1952-) Journalist Journalist Michael H. Brown contributed to the United States’ growing environmental awareness during the 1970s and 1980s through his investigative reporting on industrial pollution and toxic waste disposal. While working as a reporter at the Niagara Gazette, he tackled…
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Full text Article Chemicals Sector

From The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility
→ Responsible Care Programme CSR in the chemicals sector can be thought of in terms of three historical eras: the Carson era, the Love Canal era and the REACH era. The Carson era began with the watershed publication of Rachel Carson's 1962 book, Silent Spring , in which she argued that the…
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Full text Article Gibbs, Lois Marie Conn (b. 1951)

From From Suffrage to the Senate: America's Political Women
Lois Gibbs prides herself on being a good mother, and sending her children to school on land contaminated with toxic chemicals did not fall within her definition of being a good parent. Her children's school in the state of New York was built over 21,800 tons of chemicals, which eventually leaked…
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Full text Article Superfund

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
U.S. government fund intended to pay for the cleanup of hazardous-waste dump sites and spills. The 1980 act creating it called for financing by a combination of general revenues and taxes on polluting industries. The Environmental Protection Agency was directed to create a list of the most dangerous…
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