Hazardous Waste

Hazardous Waste Liability

Hazardous Waste became a major concern to America in the 1980’s due to the threat of the Love Canal disaster in New York, and the Valley of the Drums in Kentucky. The Love Canal was located near Niagara Falls, New York. Love Canal came from the last name of William T. Love who in the early 1890s envisioned a canal connecting the Niagara River to Lake Ontario. He believed it would provide industries with hydroelectricity but, due to limitations of direct current (DC) and investors, the power scheme was never completed. (Beck)

After 1892, Love’s plan changed to incorporate a shipping lane that would bypass the Niagara Falls, reaching Lake Ontario. He began digging the canal and built a few streets and homes that ended up causing him to abandon the project. With the project abandoned the Canal Gradually filled up with water and in the 1920’s the canal became a dump site for the City of Niagara Falls. In the 1940’s the U.S. Army began using the site to dump wastes from the war effort during World War II, including some nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project. By the 1940’s Hooker Chemical Company began searching for a place to dump large quantities of chemical waste it was producing. The Niagara Power and Development Company granted Hooker permission to dump waste into the canal. (Beck) This dump site was in operation until 1953. During this time, 21,000 tons of chemicals such as “caustics, alkaline, fatty acids and chlorinated hydrocarbons from manufacturing of dyes” were added. After 1953 the canal was covered with soil, and vegetation began to grow on top of the dumpsite. (Stoss)

At the time of the dump’s closure, Niagara Falls was entering into an economic boom and the population began to expand rapidly. The Niagara Falls City School District needed land to build new schools, and attempted to purchase the property from Hooker Chemical. The Corporation initially refused to sell due to safety concerns. Despite the safety concerns...