Love Canal- Mike Aguirre

The Love Canal's reputation of being the most horrific environmental tragedy in American history, ironically, was once supposed to be considered a Utopian city. William T. Love had an idea, to power the city through the use of canals extending from the Upper to Lower Niagara Rivers. This project came to end, during the creation of the canals, due to a lack of funds. William Love was forced to sell the partially built canal to Hooker Chemical Company, at an auction. The company dumped chemicals into the canal and sold it to the city of Niagara Falls, after completely using it, for one dollar. This was a really bad financial buy as the chemicals in the canal would eventually reach surface; it would appear on the backyards and garages of local homes. It was not safe to live in one's house as the chances of getting cancer and other diseases was high. Some positives came from this tragedy. Chemical dumping was now taken serious, and the creation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, which taxed gas and chemical corporations to be used to clean up dumping sites. The Love Canal was officially removed from the Superfund List in 2004 as it was declared "clean", but recently some have stated that they have seen an increase in disease and a weird smell.