Love Canal was a small town in Niagara Falls, New York, located between two bodies of water: the Bergholtz Creek to the North and the Niagara River to the South. Seems innocent enough right? Wrong. This town was built on top of 21,000 tons of toxic waste (Verhovek). In the early 1890’s, William T. Love wanted to build a canal which would connect the Niagara River to Lake Ontario to generate hydroelectric power for his would be city. However, due to a severe drop in investors and laws passed by Congress, he was not able to bring his idea to life. By the time his funds were completely depleted in 1910, he had dug one mile of the canal, about 50 feet wide, and 10 to 40 feet deep and he had constructed a few streets and homes (Blum). In the 1920’s, the giant hole was used as a dumpsite for the nearby city of Niagara Falls, which lead the way into one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history (Beck). A small handful of people who decided they would not leave are all that remains of the town today; 90% of the buildings were demolished or boarded up (Verhovek). In 1942, after a few year of the town of Love Canal using the unfinished canal as a dump, the Hooker Electrochemical Company, later known as Hooker Chemicals, was granted permission by the Niagara Power and Development Company to begin using the dump as a means of disposing of the large amounts of chemical waste they were producing (United States Department of Labor). Hooker Chemicals determined that this site was an outstandingly suitable for the disposal of the chemicals because the clay in the soil would be impermeable and there was not too large of a population in the area, at the time (Zuesse). In 1947, Hooker Chemicals became the sole owner of the land, and by 1952 they had filled it to its capacity with 21,000 tons of 55-US-gallon metal barrels. Chemicals such as caustics, alkalines
party in the past placed hazardous wastes there. ( The seller of a foundry was
The topic the essay is mainly talking about is whether to initiate the San Joaquin River Project. I am with Bill McEwen on his article, “River Plan Too Fishy for my Taste Buds.” I chose this author because I do not think the government should spend more money on the river rights project. The author convinced me that he is more credible and can be trusted by all the experience he has. The article was published in Fresno Bee on March 26,2009 and is surrounded by farms so the people there know what will happen if big businesses were to start a project. McEwen demonstrates how this project will impact the city in a negative way by stating ethos, logos, and pathos.
At the beginning, may be the intentions were changing through its construction process. But it certainly the canal had the support of workers and opposition on top of this many people. A interesting aspect I could say it is that The Erie cans was financed by the New York Stated and...
The positive aspects of ‘Lake’ Powell are few yet noteworthy. Glen Canyon Dam’s hydroelectric power-plant generates one thousand three hundred mega watts of electricity at full operation. That is enough power to supply three hundred fifty thousand homes. Glen Canyon Dam holds twenty seven million acre feet of water, which is equivalent to twice the Colorado River’s annual flow (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss?). One of the most valuable reasons for the dam to remain active is that “Lake Powell generates four hundred fifty five million dollars per year in tourist revenue, without this cash inflow, gas-and-motel towns . . . would undoubtedly wilt, and surrounding counties and states would lose a substantial tax base” (Farmer 185). These positive aspects are of no surprise considering they are the reason dams are built in the first place.
In 1998, the company conducted a voluntary partial cleanup of contaminated soils under The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The process involved excavation and transportation to an off site of about 8,000 cubic yards of the depleted uranium and copper contaminated soil. The cleanup stopped at the end of 1998 when the company decided that the standards set could not be met without excavating a significant amount of material.
The government did not care about the health of the Africville Community when they decided to place a dump at the edge of the community in 1958. This was very unhealthy for the community because the community became infested with rats because the dump was a food source for them. This is a problem because rats and carry many diseases. Many parents did not allow for their children to go near the dump but as kids being kids they went anyway. Kids loved going and playing at the dump because there were so many interesting things in there that it made this imagination go
While all of this was going on, the ideas for another major canal were just coming together. The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, was just beginning near the time the Erie’s construction finished up. The C&O canal would mostly be used to transport coal to Cumberland, Maryland. The building of the canal ended on June 11, 1850, at Cumberland. Although not the economic giant that the Erie was, the C&O canal reached it’s peak in 1870, during which tolls often topped $1,000(Drago 71).
On May 31, 1889 4.8 billion gallons of water rushed down the Conemaugh Valley through Johnstown from the Conemaugh Reservoir. The flood killed over 2000 people and cause over 17 million dollars in in damage (today 17 million is equivalent to about 225 million dollars.) The South Fork Dam creating the reservoir created the problem; The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the dam between 1838 and 1853. The Pennsylvania railroads acquired shipping priority over canals; through this Pennsylvania sold the canal and reservoir to the Pennsylvania Rail Road. Not having a need for the reservoir the Pennsylvanian rail road sold the land to speculators who wanted to build a resort. The speculators included Henry Clay Frick, Benjamin Ruff, and Andrew Carnegie. These men built a very exclusive resort and named it The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. At one point the club became known as the most exclusive club in The United States. Included in the building of the resort Frick wanted the dam to be lowered to allow for a road to be built on top. Lower dams could not hold excess water just in case the reservoir flooded.
People in the northern United States during the early nineteenth century wanted to rapidly industrialize and increase the amount of money they were making. The Erie Canal they believed was a great way to reduce the distance and time of shipping goods to the west. They also realized that the canal would probably increase their markets, which would mean a larger profit. The problem with all of this was how people had to destroy parts of nature in order for this to happen. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a prominent writer during the time, described the canal as “too rapid, unthinking advance of progress.” (57) Hawthorne and his supporters were very upset to see how forests and swamps were being destroyed and ruined in order t...
The Erie Canal was a man made water way that stretched to be three hundred sixty three miles long. The canal started construction in1817, and took nine years to completely finish the building process. People during this time had many positive, and negative opinions about the fact that this expensive canal was being built. The idea of the Erie Canal originates with Jesse Hawley, the idea was to connect the great lakes to the Atlantic ocean making an easy path to the west from the east without having to pass Niagara Falls. The canal was mostly built by Irish immigrants who were hated, or disliked, by most people. People had ideas and predictions about what would come of this canal. Let's just see which of the predictions were more accurate to
... line the canal today. The development of the railroad in the 19th century and the automobile in the 20th century sealed the fate of the Erie Canal.
McCullough explains how Johnstown became an example of ‘The Gilded Age’ industrialization prior to the 1889 disaster. The canal made Johnstown the busiest place in Cambria County in the 1820s. By the 1850s the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Cambria Iron Company began, and the population increased. There were about 30,000 people in the area before the flood. The Western Reservoir was built in the 1840s, but became generally known as the South Fork dam. It was designed to supply extra water for the Main Line canal from Johnstown to Pittsburgh. By saving the spring floods, water could be released during the dry summers. When the dam was completed in 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad completed the track from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and the canal business began its decline. The state offered to sell the canal, the railroad company bought it for the right of ways yet had no need to maintain the dam, which due to neglect, broke for the first time in 1862. McCullough stresses that man was responsible for the...
In the 1930’s before the Love Canal area was turned into neighborhoods, the Hooker Chemical Company purchased the area and used it as a burial site for 20,000 metric tons of chemicals. In 1953 the Hooker Chemical Company sold the land to the Niagara Falls Board of Education for $1.00. There was a stipulation in the deed, which stated that if anyone incurred physical harm or death because of their buried wastes, they would not be responsible. Shortly after, the land changed hands yet again and this time home building began directly adjacent to the canal. Families who bought homes here were unaware of the waste buried in their backyards.
The Hidden Falls can become a tool that enlighten public in different ways. It is significant that people should realize the importance of water in urban development. Because people rely on water in their life, understanding how the Hidden Falls made contributions to the local community is a priority.
The Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company located in Niagara Falls, New York was the first power company to direct electricity to the city from the falls. The mills and electric companies were built right along side the river. The waste and pollution formed from the cities and the factories alike were directly deposited into the river. The force of the water and the surrounding environment soak up the chemical spills and the sewage that the people create. Therefore, the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 was signed between Canada and the United States. As indicated by the treaty, a list of priorities should be enforced by the two countries in regard to boundary waters. “Uses for domestic and sanitary purposes; Uses for navigation, including the service of canals for the purposes of navigation; Uses for power and for irrigation purposes.” The treaty explicitly limits the destruction or overuse of the environment, not for aesthetic reasons, but for conservation and peace between two