Love Canal

Love Canal is a neighborhood within Niagara Falls, New York. The neighborhood is infamously known as the host of a 70-acre landfill that served as the epicenter of a massive environmental pollution disaster that affected the health of hundreds of residents, culminating in an extensive Superfund cleanup operation.Originally intended as a model planned community, Love Canal served as a residential area before being purchased by Hooker Chemical Company (now Occidental Chemical Corporation). After its sale to the local school district, Love Canal attracted national attention for the public health problem originated from the massive dumping of toxic waste on the grounds. This event displaced numerous families, leaving them with long-standing health issues and symptoms of high white blood cell counts and leukemia. Consequently, the federal government passed the Superfund law. The resulting cleanup operation under the Superfund law demolished the neighborhood, wrapping up in 2004.New York State Health Department Commissioner at the time, David Axelrod, called the Love Canal incident a "national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concern for future generations". The Love Canal incident was especially significant as a situation where the inhabitants "overflowed into the wastes instead of the other way around".