In 1979, the situation at a town called Love Canal was declared a state of emergency. How did such an isolated place in New York become a national devastation? In the 1890s, William T. Love started a project of digging a canal from Niagara River to Lake Ontario, but the canal was never completed. Hooker Chemical Company bought it, and used the land as a landfill for their chemical waste. They later sold it to the Niagara Falls School District, which was looking for more land to build an elementary school, but only after 21,000 tons of harmful chemicals were dumped and buried under a clay cap. They built many homes near the dump, and broke the clay cap. Soon, the people living near the canal started to complain about strange diseases, miscarriages, and residue seeping into their basements. A local resident, Lois Gibbs, started the Love Canal's Homeowners Association and led rallies to persuade the government to inspect their area. Soon, Love Canal started gaining national attention and in 1978, Love Canal was named a state of emergency. The residents were soon told to …show more content…
Dan and Teresa Reynolds have been experiencing many health issues, such as mysterious rashes since they moved to Love Canal. Teresa has also had 2 miscarriages. They were persuaded to buy their current home because they were told that Love Canal was "safe" after the cleanup. When Lois Gibbs, the head of the Love Canal Homeowner's Association returned to the site 35 years after she moved out, she said that "it was weird to hear them say the same things that I was saying 35 years ago." The situation now at Love Canal is the same as the situation that they had 35 years earlier. The old Love Canal gained national attention and was declared an environmental emergency. The residents are having the same health issues as they did 35 years ago. That proves that the situation now at Love Canal is still not clean enough for residents to live
After his completion of the Delaware Park and Parkway system with Calvert Vaux throughout Buffalo, New York, Frederick Law Olmsted declared Buffalo as “the best planned city, as to its streets, public places and grounds, in the United States, if not the world.” Inspired largely by the baroque styling of Paris, France, Olmstead wished to create a park within urban Buffalo but rather put the city of Buffalo in a park system. The parks were non-gated and easily accessible for all patrons creating an ever changing green space across an urban vista. Olmsted’s plan only added value to the existing urban fabric consisting of numerous natural and architectural landmarks. Buffalo had prized itself as a commercial and industrial hub at this time. It’s location on the Buffalo River and Lake Erie made it a viable center for railroads and grain-milling. After posting rapid population growth between the early 1800’s and 1950, reaching a high of 580,000 civilians within a metropolitan region of one million, one would be surprised to see the cities condition today. After posting 6 straight decades of population decline, the urban fabric that was once a center for industry and commerce has become like one of many rust belt cities that have struggled to remain proficient in the twenty-first century. The collapse of the grain-mill industry may have been the most crippling to Buffalo’s economy. Today the shorelines of the Buffalo River are besieged by the abandoned grain silos that once defined its skyline and are often in disarray. Shipping through Buffalo became obsolete with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the railways once vital to the harbor area were superseded by other forms of travel. For the last several decades, poverty, segregat...
In Chicago’s early days of rising to become a major US city, its population exploded, causing the city to modernize quickly and businesses to cut corners to keep their edge. The river soon became the dumping ground for both sewage and toxic waste dumped by the slaughter houses. By demand of citizens, a canal was built “which later would be named the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal (Hansen, pg. 41). The proposed canal “called for an excavation that woul...
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).
A Civil Action portrays a fictional account of the real legal case pertaining to the hazardous waste site in Woburn, Mass. The waste site affected its surroundings, and in particular, Woburn, Mass. The waste site contaminated the river in which the community of Woburn used to drink from. Due to the water contamination, the children in Woburn have been dying of Leukemia. Although we are still ignorant of the exact cause of Leukemia, the contaminated water did affect people.
Within the neighborhood of Los Feliz lives the famous land mark Griffith park. The creamy white building with three prominent black domes, attracts many men, women, and children, which includes locals and tourists. Since it is free admission, people of all social classes are welcome to take advantage and utilize it. Its location can allow it to be well suited for multiple purposes in which different types of people can utilize it for today. The Griffith park provides the Los Angeles area with the opportunity to see beyond what meets the eye while having fun and spending quality time with friends and family.
Many of the Chesapeake Bay’s inhabitants are unaware of the destruction they are triggering. The Chesapeake Bay is a local estuary in the watershed near our home in Loudoun County Virginia. With its monumental size, various problems occurring are anticipated. Pollution is the leading factor in this great body of water’s downfall. Without proper control being taken, this neighboring site of leisure, food resource, and tourist income will suffer and continue to decline. The cleanliness of the Chesapeake Bay is declining over time causing harm to many species that call the Bay their home.
The Chesapeake bay is a home to millions of people and animals. The Chesapeake Bay holds more than 15 trillion gallons of water,also supports 348 species of finfish and 173 species of shellfish, and produces more than 500 million pounds of seafood harvest each year.The Chesapeake Bay watershed spans more than 64,000 square miles.Watersheds are sometimes called “basins” or “drainage basins,home to over 17 million people.The Chesapeake Bay is 165759.24 in square km’. The Chesapeake Bay watershed 2000 years ago was much more healthier than it is now. They had maple, oak,hickory, and beech, and evergreens, hemlock, spruce, and fir plants.The Chesapeake Bay also had many different types of animals.The Bay's waters are dominated by oysters, clams
For centuries the meaning behind leisure has inmensably changed and what was done during the free time changed as well with the new creations and the help of renovating technology. During the 1950s free time was a luxury that would be spent with family or if the person was of high class it would be spend drinking tea and gossiping with their friends. If lower class people spent their luxurious time drinking tea and gossiping they were considered Free time went from being a luxury to current time where leisure is for the public and not just a group or status. More often than not though in the 2000s people are too consumed into their jobs to take time and enjoy the public activities that are given and sometimes it is taken for granted when past centuries would have appreciated them. As time has passed the Coney Island became a part of history were it contains a documented experience of all its workers and their contributions to Coney Island.
The New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan: Vision 2020, at the time of its production, presented the next steps for planning and developing the New York City’s waterfront. Following the 1992 New York City Comprehensive Plan, which was the first time in the history of New York that a long-range vision plan was created for the entire city shoreline, the 2011 plan rethought the water’s edge as a place not only for commercial and economic purposes but for people and community as well.
The current size, inherent values, and economic status of the United States owes greatly to the paramount figures and events that took place during the Early National Period of the country. However, while there is no doubt that such events- and the figures behind them- were of great importance and have molded the country into the pristine product that it is today, the various construction projects of that time have gone largely unnoticed. Canals, being one of the most prominent advances in transportation, are prime examples of forgotten catalysts of the American nation. The construction of canals- particularly the Erie Canal- during the 19th century played a key role in the geographic, economic, and cultural development of the country by
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs 363 miles from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks which allows a boat to go from one level of a water to another level lower by raising the water level in one section which lets the boat move from one lock to the next. By doing this, the Erie Canal makes a once non-accessible waterway a common mean of transportation for both goods and people.
Central Park is a magnififcent urban wonder created by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. The park includes a lake, a zoo, bird watching, trails, a picnic area, statues, ice skating, a mall, a conservatory garden. You can also ride the ponies, climb a castle, and watch Shakespeare. This famous park is deeply rooted and intertwined with the history of New York. In the 1840s the urbanization of Manhattan was on full swing. This motivated poet editor William Cullen Bryant and the landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing to do something about it. Their views gained widespread support from the public mostly due to the already magnificent parks in London and Paris. In 1856 most of the present day park was bought by the New York legislature.
The Big Apple is really starting to heat up with summer activities and events this weekend! From parades to food festivals to art shows and everything else in between, there’s definitely something for everyone this weekend in NYC. Here’s a quick look at just a few of the top events and activities to enjoy for the weekend of June 17 – 18 in New York City!
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 dominant narrative views the bridge as a legendary destination, however, to the locals, it symbolizes much more than just a view, it represents grief.