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William T. Love plans a model city for the Niagara River area. He convinces the legislature to build a power-generating canal near Lake Ontario to encourage industrial growth. <a href='http://www.wnylegacy.org/u?/BUF004,3' target="_blank" >View larger image</a>
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William Love abandoned his model city and canal plan. Tesla's discovery of alternating current made industrial locations near water-powered electricity less important to manufacturing. Congress also passed environmental legislation that protected waterfalls, making it more difficult to divert water from the river. View larger image
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Elon Hooker starts the Hooker Electrochemical Company in the Niagara Falls area. They employ 75 workers and manufacture chlorine and caustic soda.
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The Love Canal is annexed by the city. The abandoned canal is 500 m from the Niagara River and drains directly into it by means of a trench. Residents fish and swim in the canal. View larger image
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Niagara Power and Development Company, Love Canal's owners, give hooker Electrochemical permission to dispose of wastes in the canal. View larger image
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Hooker transfers the Love Canal site to the Niagara Falls Board of Education for $1.
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Construction of the 99th Street Elementary School and playground begin. Drainpipes are sunk for the school and for new homes going up around the area. View larger image
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Residual chemicals from the canal seep to the surface. Strange skin rashes appear on pets and children who walk barefoot on the ground. Odors are bad. View larger image
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Board of education gives 6.6 acres of the site to the city for a park. View larger image
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DEC visits Love Canal area while investigating suspected discharges of Mirex by Hooker. Encourage Niagara Falls to develop an environmental abatement plan for the area. View larger image
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Congressman John LaFalce first tours the Canal & urges the EPA to take action. View larger image
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The DEC asks the EPA to sample air in basements abutting the Canal. View larger image
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Two homeowners complain to city council about chemical contamination but get no help.
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Heavy rains in 1976 & 1977 cause significant increases of waste seepage. View larger image
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epartment of Health first lean of the EPA results showing toxic chemicals in basements. View larger imageD
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Commissioner Robert Whalen & David Axelrod of the NYS Department of Health, along with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner and others, tour the dumpsite.
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Commissioner Whalen directs Niagara County health commissioner to cover exposed chemicals, fence the area, and conduct need studies. View larger image
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The EPA publicly reports that air sampling in basement homes along the Canal suggest a serious health threat from chemicals. View larger image
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State officials hold the first of several public meetings, initially to tell residents that health & environmental studies will begin immediately. View larger image
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Homeowner Karen Schroeder begins organizing neighbors. View larger image
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View larger imageLois Gibbs becomes active.
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Health Commissioner Whalen orders Niagara County health commissioner to remove exposed wastes & fence the site. View larger image
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Govenor Hugh Carey signs a law giving Health Commissioner Whalen power, in case of an emergrancy, to spend $500,000 on health studies at Love Canal.
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View larger imageHealth Commissioner Whalen declares an emergency at Love Canal & recommends temporary relocation from the inner rings of pregnant women & children under two. Govenor Carey appoints Love Canal Task Force to assist families. Residents nearly riot.
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View larger imageLove Canal Homeowners Association is formed.
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Governor Carey tells residents that the state will buy the inner-ring homes. View larger image
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Remedial construction begins on the southern end of the Canal. View larger image
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New Health Commissioner Axelrod recommends temporary relocation from the outer rings of pregnant women & children under two, & orders continued health & environmental studies & extension of remedial construction to the central & northern sections of the Canal.
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ABC television features Love Canal in hour-long special on toxic waste.
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U.S. House & Senate committees hear testimony on Love Canal.
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Complaining of fumes from the remedial construction, up to 425 Love Canal residents are temporarily relocated to hotels at state expense. View larger image
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EPA announces the results of a study that found chromosome damage in 11 of the 36 Love Canal residents tested. Papers pick up the story. View larger image
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Two EPA officials are taken "hostage" by Lois Gibbs. View larger image
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The EPA announces that President Carter has declared an emergency to permit federal & state governments to temporarily relocate approximately 700 families from the outer rings. View larger image
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Governor Carey signs a law creating the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA), charged with returning the neighborhood to livable status. View larger image
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President Carter signs a federal-state agreement that allows for purchase of the outer-ring homes.
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President Carter signs the Superfund Law to aid cleanup of toxic waste sites. View larger image
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An EPA study leads to the decision that the Canal area is habitable. View larger image
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Abandoned homes in Rings 1 & 2 are razed. View larger image
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The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment criticizes the EPA habitability study.
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View larger imageU.S. District Court Judge John Curtin finds Occidental Petroleum (Hooker's parent company) liable under the Superfund law for the Canal's leaking.
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Health Commissioner Axelrod declares most of the Canal area suitable to live in.
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LCARA adopts a master plan for resettling the neighborhood. View larger image
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View larger imageLCARA puts ten homes up for sale. Protests ensue.
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Judge Curtin rules that Hooker does not have to pay punitive damages.
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Virtually all the 234 homes north of Colvin Boulevard in the neighborhood now called Black Creek Village, are refurbished & sold to new occupants.
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LCARA formally goes out of business. Residents of Black Creek Village have a street party to celebrate.
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Cleanup took 21 years and cost close to $400 million dollars, but Love Canal removed from the Superfund list.
