"On This Day" In Engineering History

Wow, they built schools and houses that close to a toxic canal - that's crazy! The Niagara Falls region is, in my opinion, absolutely beautiful. I would have had no idea that such conditions has ever existed there.

This story is very compelling. I am looking forward to tomorrow's installment.

What a hideous tale...doubtless the people who made these irresponsible decisions will go unpunished.
I assume the Niagra Falls School Board knew the land was full of toxic waste?

The company who sold it to them doubtless saved themselves a lot of trouble, but was it morally right? I think not.
Del

Hi Del,

In 1995, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Hooker Chemical's corporate successor) was ordered to pay the federal government $129 million to cover the costs of the Love Canal cleanup. I'm not aware of anyone serving jail time, however.

As for the Niagara Falls School Board, I've read that they were well-aware of the land's former status as a chemical dump. The following is an excerpt from the land contract. I've added the boldface for emphasis.

"Prior to the delivery of this instrument of conveyance, the grantee herein has been advised by the grantor that the premises above described have been filled, in whole or in part, to the present grade level thereof with waste products resulting from the manufacturing of chemicals by the grantor at its plant in the City of Niagara Falls, New York, and the grantee assumes all risk and liability incident to the use thereof. It is therefore understood and agreed that, as a part of the consideration for this conveyance and as a condition thereof, no claim, suit, action or demand of any nature whatsoever shall ever be made by the grantee, its successors or assigns, against the grantor, its successors or assigns, for injury to a person or persons, including death resulting therefrom, or loss of or damage to property caused by, in connection with or by reason of the presence of said industrial wastes. It is further agreed as a condition hereof that each subsequent conveyance of the aforesaid lands shall be made subject to the foregoing provisions and conditions."

- Moose

Thanks for this Blog,

Here in New Zealand we have undergone similar toxic waste problems:

Tanalith (Copper arsenate) and Pentachlorophenol (PCP) wood treatment plants closing, with land sold and Schools (Hanmer) and houses (various places) built over.

Dioxin (Agent Orange by Dow Chemical,) made in an old city (New Plymouth) factory, the genetic damage spread far and wide, hotly denied by Government and local Health Officials for 30 years, but recently by means of TV programmes, brought to light.

Asbestos (James Hardie) dumped for over 40 years, then major subdivisions with houses built over - Cancers galore (Flatbush, south of Auckland).

Asbestos factory (Fletcher Insulation) in a city, (Christchurch), then the business closed and houses built over - Cancers galore

I note that most of the offending Companies pay Politicians well via the "Slush fund" system, then mysteriously go into receivership, or close down, a year or two before the problems surface.

Lead Acid car batteries are currently shipped to The Philippines, where people chop them apart with axes, for the lead. The plastic is burned, and the acid drains into local streams.

Old Computer Monitors are "given away" to poorer countries, where the toxic contents are not well understood.

Perhaps I should not have started the reply here, I'd better stop, before I get really upset at the unfairness and stupidity of it all.

Kind Regards....

I remember what those unfortunate people had to endure. The government made it illegal for them to sell their homes but had no plans to evacuate them. Only after three years of activism on their part did President Carter step in. Prior to that they were subjected to ridicule and police harrasment courtesy of certain politicians (governor of New York) finally culminating in the national guard being called in.

So let me get this straight. If I wanted to bury toxic waste, all I have to do is burying it in clay? That seems like a really lame way to "protect" surroundings.

I don't know the first thing about soil composition traits, but who is sitting in a meeting somewhere and saying "Let's just put drums of this toxic chemical in a hole. Will line it with...clay...yeah, clay. Oh, oh, oh...even better. Let's get some good PR by selling the land to a SCHOOL for $1."

Lesson to be learned: Don't ever buy land for much less than market value. Unless you want to hallucinate while you are mowing your phosphorescent grass in the back yard.

In that case, go right ahead.

My recollections of the incident are from contemporary news reports, so if I'm wrong, I'm sure that others will correct me.

Hooker disposed of the chemicals in the containment site in an environmentally correct manner, far exceeding what was acceptable practices at the time. If the building had not occurred, the waste probably would still be contained.

The school board wanted to buy the land, but Hooker refused, because it was a hazardous waste dump. They even took school board members to the site, and drilled test wells to show the school board that there were hazardous chemicals there. The school board refused to listen, and seized the land (or threatened to seize the land) under eminent domain, and gave Hooker $1. So, it was not PR. Hooker made every attempt to stop an extremely stupid an extremely action.

So the school board knew full well it was a hazardous waste disposal site. They then built the school directly on top of the cap that sealed the site. The city then allowed houses to be built on the site.

So Hooker acted very responsibly. In my opinion, the school board and city officials should have been criminally prosecuted for knowing and willingly endangering people's health, and the environment.

But, of course, it was Hooker that was fined.

Tad

Hi Moose - Thanks for writing this, and for jogging my memory. What happened here in NYS in the 70's is going on now in China, from a couple of recent documentaries I've seen aired on PBS. However, there's hope for them as well, as there are environmentally-focused lawyers and citizens brave enough to go against corrupt local party officials. These activists are pushing for better standards and accountability for toxins released into Chinese streams and rivers. The future looks a lot cleaner for all of us. - april05