In , Love Canal was envisioned to be a model planned community. After the partial development and subsequent demise of the project, the canal became a dump site during the s for municipal refuse for the City of Niagara Falls.
During the s, the canal was purchased by Hooker Chemical Company , now Occidental Chemical Corporation , which used the site to dump 21, short tons of chemical byproducts from the manufacturing of dyes, perfumes, and solvents for rubber and synthetic resins. After its sale to the local school district in , which occurred using the threat of eminent domain , Love Canal attracted national attention for the public health problem originating from the former 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. Subsequently, the federal government passed the Superfund law. The resulting Superfund cleanup operation demolished the neighborhood, ending during The New York State Department of Health Commissioner at the time, David Axelrod , termed the Love Canal incident a "national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concern for future generations".
Love Canal is a neighborhood located in the city of Niagara Falls in the northwestern region of New York state. The neighborhood covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the city, stretching from 93rd street comprising the western border to th street in the east border and rd street in the northeast. The LaSalle Expressway splits an uninhabited portion of the south from the north. In , William T. Love, an ambitious entrepreneur from the Western Railroad Corporation, envisioned a perfect urban area called " Model City ".
He prepared plans to construct a community of parks and residences on the banks of Lake Ontario , believing it would serve the area's burgeoning industries with much-needed hydroelectricity. After , Love's plan incorporated a shipping lane that would bypass the Niagara Falls. During October , the first factory opened for business. In May , work on the canal had begun. Steel companies and other manufacturers expressed interest in the chance of opening plants along the Love Canal.
