Love Canal Research Paper

The Erie Canal was set in the state of New York which would be built to connect Albany and Buffalo. The concept of the Erie Canal began fifty years before actually starting construction in 1817. However, completion of the Erie Canal did not end until 1825 which resulted in a water route 364-miles long that connected the Hudson River in Albany and the Great lakes in Buffalo. Industrialization was sped up by the Erie Canal decades after it was completed because it improved transportation, trade, commerce and settlement in the United States.

Although drinking water is not yet known to have been affected, the groundwater was contaminated with volatile organic compounds and heavy metals (5). Both of these types of contaminants have been linked with one or several of the following: cancer, liver, kidney, and nervous system problems (4). In July 1979, the State Court required that all material be removed from the site by July 1980 (5). The state has spent over $300,000 cleaning this site (5). According to EPA standards, this site is in the "construction completed" stage of clean up. This does not mean, however that actual cleanup is complete because groundwater may need to be treated more than 30 years before contaminants are at accepted levels (5).

The Artificial River, a well thought of 177 paged book written by the author Carol Sheriff whom at the time was an graduate at Yale University and finished it off while an assistant professor at William and Mary. This compelling book captures and emphasis the success and downfall the Erie canal has brought to the people. Sheriff has a clear notion that “progress” viewed differently through the eyes of conflicting people and status. What one envisioned the Canal turn out to be fluctuated from another. Progress to them meant in large part men and women take apart an active role in the community that they are in which the construction of the Erie canal consisted of people doing just that. She apprehended that whomever supported the canal had some dream and hope to actively be apart a wider range or market exchange. In Sheriff words she says that progress would play a central role in defining Northern sectional identity in decades. The book will explore six topics which are titled Vision of Progress, The Triumph of Art over Nature, Reducing time and distance, Politics of land and water, Politics of Business and The Perils of Progress all of which I will touch on throughout the paper.

DuPont was aware of the harmful effects this chemical had on animals and people but ignored the issue in accordance of high profit. Not only were people affected in the local community, but people in surrounding areas were also affected. Thousands of people and large amounts of property were inflicted with poor air quality and poor drinking water. DuPont had later discovered that there were dust fumes emerging from the factories that were unhealthy for people to inhale, and later found it in the drinking water. DuPont also found an astonishing key of evidence, they had found PFOA in the water, and it was twice the amount of what was allowed, and could cause some serious issues. They had known about the levels and did not notify any workers or anyone in the community due to the fear of loss of profit. Men and women were coming home with a fever, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. These workers endured injurious experiences, and were never notified about the condition in which they were working. DuPont was named as not trustworthy, and at times known to practice illegal activity. After going through the experiences of which they just endured, they might go through the process of mental thinking or what they just went through was not right and should not have happened to me. That process is known as

The Erie Canal being one very famous example of how this all changed. The Erie Canal was proposed in 1808 but wasn’t completed until 1825, it was a canal that linked the waters of Lake Erie to the Hudson River. The Erie Canal at the time was engineering marvel to the world, partially because of the 568 foot rise from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, it used a large amount of aqueducts and locks to do so. The Canal by 1830, had carried more than $15 million worth of goods and product annually. The Canal eventually had to have an increase in size from what was originally 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide into a massive 70 feet wide and 7 feet deep, allowing boats to also increase load size from the usual; 30 tons of freight to a whopping 240 tons of weight. In the time between 1836 to 1862 is when the enlargement occurred, and by 1850 the annual figure rose from $15 million to $200 million. Giving it a large impact on the flow of economy through transportation.

Although the canal did not receive much support in the beginning, it soon proved to be a great benefit to New York and the entire country. Once the Erie Canal opened, shipping costs from New York to the Midwest dropped from $100 a ton to less than $10 a ton, and the time it took to ship the goods was cut down by a third. This greatly increased trade for New York City businesses. Many settlers used the canal to travel to upstate New York and points farther west. This influx of people opened up new markets for New York City businesses. It also increased the financial and physical growth of cities along the canal route. Many people ask "so what we could have waited for

The effects of the Buffalo Creek were massive. Most of the homes were damaged and demolished. There was millions in property damage to be paid. Approximately 500 houses and 40 mobile homes were completely wiped away by the flood and about 950 houses and mobile homes were damaged. The whole area was like one big pool, the water washing the homes down shore. Property damage totaled to an estimate of $50 million. It was almost like one side of the houses of the creek were more safe, as the water rushed down stream it would wash away the houses on the right side of the creek as the creek curved to the left, it would then take the houses on the left side further down when the next curve was to the right. The cleaning up process of this disaster took a very long time, since there was so much debris from the homes and cars it made it a lot more tedious work. It can only be imagined how much this disaster effected the people of this community. Approximately 120 people died, among those were 3 babies, over 4,000 were to be homeless, and 7 people were to never be found. Not only did this flood affect people physically, but also mental, psychologically, and finically. Local schools had been opened up as a center for people with no homes, also people were put into mobile homes. What was not put into consideration was their former neighborhood. People that they have been living

The Erie Canal was an important building project that led to economic growth in the United States. When it was built, it was a feat of engineering that was twice as long as any European canal (OI). First, it connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes (Doc. 1A), which created a boom in the economy. It also made New York City the nation’s largest and busiest port. In the words of New York State Canal Corporation, “Prior to the construction of the canal, New York City was the nation’s fifth largest seaport…” It caused other countries to want to ship items across the sea over to America. It didn’t just affect New York City. Believe it or not, it was relatively cheap to ship items from New York City to Buffalo. If you used the road to ship

The idea to construct a canal was continuously declined by the federal government, despite’s the benefits that the canal would bring, for this reason New York decided the fund the project on its own. It was important to recognize that New York needed a passage which would make transportation of goods cost efficient. It was also important to make a means for transportation that would put New York as a place for business since it is the only way that states at the time would grow and prosper. The problem although resided on the overall cost to make a canal. It was proposed that the

As president Carter learned about the tragic milestone he went and spoke out calling the Love canal incident as, “One of the grimmest discoveries of the modern era” (Beck 5). Due to the incident, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in attempt to protect the health and environment of the american citizens by prosecuting regulations passed by congress. Also, according to an article from The New York Times, the EPA was the group that encouraged President Carter to speak out about the Love Canal and declare it a disaster as well as approve evacuations (“The War” 1). Another group formed was the LCHA, also known as the Love Canal Homeowners Association. In fact, according to an article from U.S. History in Context, “The role played by the LCHA in achieving residents demands demonstrated the power of citizen groups” (“Toxic” 3).

In 1952 a fire caused a million dollars’ worth of damage to river boats and riverfront businesses. On June 22, 1969 another river fire engulfed the river, this time the media coverage captured the attention of the nation. Time Magazine described the Cuyahoga as the river that “oozes rather that flows” and in which a person “doesn’t drown but decays”. Many of the residents of Cleveland accepted the pollution as a necessary evil because they had jobs at these factories. This article helped the people of Cleveland pass a 100 million dollar bond to clean up the Cuyahoga River. Much of the industry that both made Cleveland rich and caused its river to burn may never be coming back. The costs of these fires were tremendous, but it did help lead to laws being passed to prevent this from happening in other rivers. One such law was the Clean Water Act of 1972.

This document, Recipe for Disaster: Motherhood and Citizenship at Love Canal, holds focus to the decades between 1960-1980’s in which the residents of Niagara Falls, New York faced a large problem of toxic waste surrounding their homes. Its author, Amy M. Hay, reveals specific characteristics about the area such as homes being built on the toxic land in addition to the toxins taking a toll on the environment. In “the Love Canal” as it is nicknamed, children are constantly falling to illnesses’, mothers seem to keep falling victim to miscarriages, and residents are faced with the dilemma of deciding between leaving or remaining in their homes at the Loving Canal. Correspondingly, all of the aforementioned seems to be happening on a constant

Love Canal is one of the most iconic and appalling environmental tragedies in American history. Dreamed up by a visionary, William T. Love built Love Canal to create a dream community on the fringe of Niagara Falls where all could see it as a dream community. Love built the Canal because he thought that by digging a short canal between two rivers that he could generate electricity to power homes and business in the community surrounding the canal. With the invention of AC power and a depression, the canals power systems were never installed and it remained as a dry canal for quite some time. It’s ironic that it had such grand intentions considering the Love Canal would become one of Americas most polluted superfund sites in American history.

To deem a business unsafe, an industrial hygienist uses a MIRAN machine to determine volatile organic compound levels in the air. An infrared light shines back and forth within the large tubular portion of a MIRAN machine; this light functions to detect gas levels. A MIRAN machine is efficient, and gives on-the-spot readings. Wilson went on to explain the details associated with the history of the Love Canal. William T. Love, wanting to utilize hydroelectric power to yield DC power, built the Love Canal in 1890 in Niagara Falls, NY. After the advent of AC power, Love went bankrupt in 1900, and the project to build the canal ended. Until 1940, the canal was used as a recreational spot for citizens, until its purchase by Hooker Chemical, which dumped more than 21,000 barrels of toxic organic compounds into the canal over a ten-year period. This probably wouldn’t have been much of a concern, but the Niagara Falls Board of Education petitioned the company for its newly soil-covered land to build a school on. Despite being advised not to build any structure on this area, the City of Niagara Falls built the school and a community in a series of four

In the 1920’s, the city bought the land at public auction, which became the municipal and chemical disposal site. (Beck) The city of Niagara Falls and The United States also participated in dumping garbage, military warfare material, and Manhattan Project. This was a disposal site for more than twenty years, until Hooker Chemical Company purchased the site for their chemical disposal. (Beck) In 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company filled the canal with twenty-two thousand tons of waste in barrels, which leaked, broke apart when being dump, and poured into the soil. (Gibbs) In addition, to avoid contaminants leaked to the top layer soil they would cover them up with cinders, ash, clay or loom to decrease the spill. (Gibbs)