Photos from AP/Worldwide Photos and UPI/Bettmann, Newsphotos

The Love Canal

Introduction• 16 acre rectangular tract – SE City of

Niagra Falls

• 1890’s: William. T. Love – Constructed canal for adjacent

hydroelectric plant– Project abandoned due to new

technologies

• Remaining canal:– 1000m long– 30m wide– 5m deep

Problem: Causes

• Between 1942 and 1953:

– Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corp. disposed of 21,800 tons of waste in the canal

• 1953 - property sold to the city for $1

• Land was used for

– Housing Development (257 homes)

– Elementary School

• First Clay Cap failed

Problem• Waste started appearing in backyards

and basements

• Residents complained:– Chemical odours– Loss of vegetation– Respiratory problems– Rashes– Poor Health

• 2nd August 1978 - State of emergency declared

– Unsafe levels of chemicals in air of 239 homes

– School was closed– Pregnant women & children evacuated– Immediate remedial action

Alternative Solutions

• Insitu / Exsitu:

– Physical /chemical treatment

– Thermal treatment– Biological treatment– Containment– Air emissions / Off-

Gas treatment

Solution Adopted

• Initial Actions– Collection, treatment and disposal

• 2130m perimeter trench dug between canal borders and adjacent housing

• On site treatment facility• Clay cap + polyethylene layer• Monitoring wells• Storage + high temperature incineration

– Removal of • sewer system• creek sediment

– Remediation of 93rd Street School soil– Buyout of contaminated homes

Solution Adopted

Courtesy of: http://www.ccc.nottingham.ac.uk/~evzard/24

Current State• 16 acre area surrounded by an eight foot barb wire fence

• Renamed Black Creek Village for a new image

• The school and 227 homes near the canal have been demolished

• Plans to have people move into some of the empty homes remaining are underway

• Capped with a new layers of clay

Lessons Learned

Increased “NIMBY” attitude

Increased awareness of epidemiology

Better waste planning and management

Effects on environment from toxic waste

Thank you