love canal tragedy

1. LOVE CANAL
LOVE CANAL
TRAGEDY
TRAGEDY
N001-Gunisha Singh
N022-Priyanshi Doshi

2. Introduction
When and Why it happened
Consequences
Post Disaster care
cost of mitigation
Conclusion
Pictorial Representation
CONTENTS
LOVE CANAL TRAGEDY

3. INTODUCTION
Love Canal is an aborted canal project branching off of
the Niagara River about four miles south of Niagara
Falls. It is also the name of a fifteen-acre, working-
class neighborhood of around 800 single-family
homes built directly adjacent to the canal.
From 1942 to 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company,
with government sanction, began using the partially
dug canal as a chemical waste dump.
At the end of this period, the contents of the canal consisted
of around 21,000 tons of toxic chemicals, including at least
twelve that are known carcinogens

4. In the late 1940s, a the Hooker Chemical
Company dumped hazardous industrial
waste on the sight and covered the
trench up with soil. Years later, the land
was developed into a small working-class
community of small houses and a public
school. The adverse effects of the buried
chemicals began affecting the
community beginning in the 1970s.
WHEN AND WHERE DID IT
OCCUR?

5. Once the buried chemicals began leaking from the
underground barrels stored,the soil starting turning
toxic with chemical waste surfacing in residents'
backyards and basements.
The exposure to these hazardous chemicals not only
killed off many trees and the ecosystem but also the
humans living on the land.
There were increasing reports of unusual rashes,
sickness, breathing problems, etc.
Pregnant women reported strange symptoms, and
many children were born with various birth defects.
EFFECTS OF THE DISASTER

6. 1978, Dr. Robert P. Whalen declared area around
the Love Canal hazardous land closed, area
sectioned off and 200 families were evacuated
on August 7, President Jimmy Carter called on the
Federal Disaster Assistance Agency for help
Hooker Chemical was sued for $11 billion
corporation denied its involvement
more than 1000 families had been moved out of
the area
CITY TAKES ACTION

7. Clean up of Love Canal, which was funded by Superfund
and completely finished in 2004, involved removing
contaminated soil, installing drainage pipes to capture
contaminated groundwater for treatment, and covering it
with clay and plastic. In 1995, Occidental Chemical paid
$102 million to Superfund for cleanup and $27 million to
Federal Emergency Management Association for the
relocation of more than 1,000 families. New York State
paid $98 million to EPA and the US government paid $8
million for pollution by the Army.
The total clean up cost was estimated to be $275 million.
COST OF MITIGATION

8. CONCLUSION
The Love Canal was a huge environmental disaster and a wakeup call
for the J.S. It is unfortunate that it needed to come to such a tragic
event before any regulations were set forth on chemical wastes.
The Love Canal tragedy helped to create Superfund,
which has analyzed tens of thousands of hazardous
waste sites in the U.S. and cleaned up hundreds of
the worst ones. Nevertheless, over 1,000 major
hazardous waste sites with a significant risk to
human health or the environment are still in the
process of being cleaned.

9. REFERENCES
https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/envirobiology/chapter/6-4-case-study-the-love-
canal-disaster/
https://www.google.com/search?
q=love+canal&rlz=1C1CHZN_enIN973IN973&sxsrf=ALiCzsZkt_Bn1abQLQj2_BG8ItTCigyUXw:16
59723163127&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi46MDMprD5AhU3zYsBHe_sCRs
Q_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1536&bih=688&dpr=1.25#imgrc=tmOYnv8tXnqOqM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal
https://www.geneseo.edu/history/love_canal_history#:~:text=As%20it%20turns%20out%2C
%20consecutive,the%20elementary%20school%20built%20directly

10. THANK YOU