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 About CHEJ > Love Canal
11/17/08
Happy Birthday, Love Canal
It's been 30 years
since the neighborhood surrounding America's most famous toxic waste dump was evacuated, yet its legacy is still unfolding . . . See article and slide show from Environmental Science & Technology
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Love Canal
Lois Gibbs was raising her family in Love Canal, near Niagara Falls in upstate New York, when, in 1978, she discovered that her home and those of her neighbors were sitting next to 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals.
That shocking discovery spurred Lois to lead her neighbors in a three year struggle to protect their families from the hazardous waste buried in their backyards. In that fight, Lois discovered that no local, state or national organization existed to provide communities with strategic advice, guidance, training and technical assistance.
Lois with her neighbors on their own, by trial and error, developed the strategies and methods to educate and organize their neighbors, assess the impacts of toxic wastes on their health, and challenge corporate and government policies on the dumping of hazardous materials. Her leadership led to the relocation of 833 Love Canal households.
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