Love Canal - Neighborhood in the City of Niagara Falls

Love Canal

Love Canal was a neighborhood in the city of Niagara Falls, NY. This name for the neighborhood however was known for much more than just a neighborhood. In the 1890's, a man by the name of William T. Love envisioned a canal connecting the Niagara River to Lake Ontario. This canal would serve the purpose of creating hydroelectricity. His project however would be altered due to limitations, the panic of 1893, and laws passed to preserve the amount of water eventually traveling down the Niagara Falls. Due to this disapproval, William Love decided to change the canal into a shipping lane bypassing Niagara Falls. Quickly after beginning this project, Love ran into debt and could not finish the Canal. This left a 50 foot wide, 40 foot deep hole in the ground that was about 1 mile long. This whole eventually filled up with water and children used it as leisure to swim and skate. In the 1920's, the Canal became a dump site for industries, army, and municipal trash. Hooker Electrochemical Company used the land/area in 1940 chemical waste dump site, and 7 years later bought the land. The canal was eventually covered with soil, and grass/vegetation began growing over the site. A school known as 93rd street was constructed right next to the canal, and the playground was built on top of the site. Homes also grew around the area and the city of Niagara began to boom. In 1976, two reporters tested several pumps near the Love Canal and examined the water. What was discovered was many toxins in the water caused by the toxins that were released into the canal by the Hooker Electrochemical Company. Citizens in the area became aware of the repetitive sicknesses, viruses, and bacteria around the area. Pipes began spitting out toxic water, and the smell became apparent. The area quickly turned into a state of emergency, and over 900 families moved out. Clean up however was not as easy as some thought. The canal was very deep, therefore