THE 12 WORST HUMAN-MADE DISASTERS OF ALL TIME by Susan E Hamen 12 story library
1 Toxic Sludge Poisons New York State Neighborhood had two children who were sick She read a newspaper article that said chemical waste was buried in the area Lois spoke to her neighbors She recorded the conditions residents had Her work gained national attention Officials began to investigate They found that the Hooker Love Canal neighborhood In the 1970s children in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls New York started getting sick Some developed diseases such as epilepsy and asthma Many babies were born premature Others had birth defects A number of children never grew their adult teeth When black goo began seeping up from the grass residents knew something was wrong One young mother took action Lois Gibbs The foundation of a home that was relocated Behind is the filled-in chemical dump
Children protest at a neighborhood rally in 1978 Chemical Company had dumped chemical waste in Love Canal decades earlier The site was later covered with clay It was then sold to the city A school was built on the site Over time chemicals ate through the clay They seeped up out of the ground Children spent their recess on a playground with black mucky toxic goop These poisonous chemicals made Love Canal residents sick 56 Percent of children in Love Canal born with birth defects from 1974 to 1978 Children in Love Canal began getting sick in the 1970s Toxic chemicals had been buried in the area Exposure to the chemicals caused birth defects and diseases A PREVENTABLE DISASTER The Hooker Chemical Company told city officials about the buried chemicals But officials didn’t pass along warnings to people who bought homes in the Love Canal neighborhood The state of New York eventually purchased the homes of nearly 1,000 families in the area It also paid to relocate people
