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OBG PRESENTS: Love Canal – History & Observations David J OBG PRESENTS: Love Canal – History & Observations David J. Wilson CIH (1979-2012) October 2016 AGENDA History to 1978 Events 1978 to 1985 Remedial Actions Habitability Studies Health Studies Repopulation Personal Observations Reflections 2 Love Canal History to 1978 3 Niagara Falls, NY William T. Love 1890s Power Canal Canal 3,000 feet long, 100 feet wide, & 22 feet deep Canal dug 1,500 feet from Niagara River Project abandoned ~1900 Used for recreation until the 1940s Hooker Chemical, US Military & City of NF used canal for waste disposal from 1943 to 1953 21,800 Tons chemical waste 4 Sold by Hooker for $1, 1953 NF & NF Board with written restrictions of Education requested Soil cover placed on canal • Warning about buried chemicals title to property • DO NOT build on or next to the canal Love Canal Tier 1 total of 99 homes Three blocks (Tier 1) 99th Street School build on first and third blocks History… constructed directly 1954 on middle block around canal •230 Adults •134 Children 1953 to 1972 1972 - Tier 1-4 Residential structures completed •800 Single family homes •240 Low income apartments 5 Tier 1-4 EDA Location Map 6 First & Second Blocks of Love Canal 7 First Block of Love Canal 8 Mid 1970s Odors detected from canal Canal cover soils sinking Sheens on house basement sump water surfaces Drums surfacing in canal area 1976 Calspan Corp. conducts survey and recommendations: LOVE CANAL HISTORY . Place a clay cap on canal fill area . Seal house basement sumps . Install tile drainage along canal 9 Love Canal Events 1978 – 1985 10 April 1978 NF Newspaper article series on hazardous wastes LC Residents express concern to NYSDOH NYSDOH confirms public health hazard at LC May 1978 NYSDOH meets with LC residents NYSDOH issues first of three orders LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS . Remove exposed drums . Limit access to canal site . “Other actions to abate public nuisance” 11 June - August 1978 NYSDOH collects basement air samples from homes on 97th and 99th Streets Ring 1 homes (99) border Love Canal Ring 2 homes (124) across the street from Ring 1 homes Test parameters . Chloroform . Trichloroethylene . Tetrachloroethylene . Chlorobenzene . Chlorotoluene LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS 12 Sample results RING 1 RING 2 Free of Chemicals 5% 55% One Chemical 16% 30% Two Chemicals 40% 12% Three Chemicals 30% 3% > Three Chemicals 9% 0 LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS 13 1978 – 1980 14 August 2, 1978 NYSDOH issues second of three orders . Abate pollution is upper ground water . Close the 99th Street Elementary School . Conduct a chronic illness study of LC residents . Delineate boundary of toxic effects . Determine extent of leachate migration . Identify ground water contaminants . Relocate pregnant women & children <2 years old who are in Tiers 1, 2 and Eastern section of 3 . Do not use basements . Do not eat home grown foods August 7, 1978 President Carter orders funds to move 239 families (Tiers 1 & 2) and demolish homes LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS Other families told they were not at risk 15 August 1978 Love Canal Homeowners Association (LCHA) established . 500 Families . Lois Gibbs Organizer and President January 1979 All Tier 1 & 2 residents temporarily relocated & 232 house purchase agreements signed February 1979 Health study compiled by LCHA . Elevated birth defects . Urinary tract disorders LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS . Study dismissed by NYSDOH . Protests & letter writing . NYSDOH reverses decision and agrees with results 16 February 8, 1979 NYSDOH issues third of three orders . Expand study areas to Tiers 3 & 4 . Expand area to relocate pregnant women and children <2 years old . Identify pathways of contamination via sewers & underground utilities September 8, 1979 300 Additional families temporarily moved as a result of exposures during clean-up activities October 1979 Three resident relocation programs in progress . Permanent relocation of Tier 1 & 2 residents LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS . Temporary relocation 33 of 49 eligible pregnant women and children < 2 years old . Temporary relocation of 91 families with illness associated with remedial construction activities 17 November 1979 Site remedial construction completed, funding for temporary housing terminated by NYS May 17, 1980 EPA study reports chromosomal damage May 19, 1980 LC Residents “detain” 2 EPA reps. “What we’ve done here today will like a Sesame Street picnic compared to what we’ll do then.” LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS - Lois Gibbs 18 May 22, 1980 Governor requests and Pres. Carter issues 2nd emergency order . Provide aid to temporarily relocate all remaining residents ~700 families . Establish the Emergency Declaration Area (EDA) October 1980 Federal Government evacuated all families from Tiers 3 & 4 November 1980 State / federal buyout program started May 22, 1980 LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS US Government issues new legislation to facilitate health data collection . Environmental Disease Registry . Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, aka “Superfund” 19 December 1983 NYS Supreme Court approves medical settlement agreement . Create Love Canal Medical Trust Fund (LCMTF) . Funding of $1 MM by Occidental Chemical Corporation . Provide medical expenses for 1328 plantifs . Covers medical problems reasonably associated with site exposure January 1985 NYS Supreme Court established not-for-profit Love Canal Medical Fund Inc. Administer the LCMTF . Court approves all expenditures . Section 501 (c)(4) tax exempt status LOVE CANALLOVE EVENTS 20 Remedial Actions 21 October 1978 Barrier drains installed 12 to 20 feet depth Installed 170 deep & shallow monitoring wells December 1979 Leachate treatment operational . Two pumping stations to one treatment tank . Treat up to 200 gpm (recorded peak flows ~50 gpm) July 1980 3 foot clay cap over 22 acres REMIDIAL ACTIONS June 1983 Tier 1 homes and the 99th Street School demolished 22 1985 NYSDEC installed 40-acre synthetic cap covered with 8 inches soil, and grass seeded 1986-1987 68,000 lineal feet storm & sanitary sewers cleaned and inspected October 28, 1987 EPA ROD for temporary storage . 15,000 yd³ soil . 10,000 yd³ construction material 1987 – 1989 14,000 yd³ dredged from Black & Bergholtz creeks REMIDIAL ACTIONS September 26, 1988 EPA ROD to excavate 7,500 yd³ soil from school yard for on-site treatment and burial 23 September 1992 93rd Street School demolished August 1999 Last of 39,000 yd³ waste materials send out for disposal . Thermal destruction Deer Park, TX and Originate Mountain, UT . Landfill Grassy Mountain, UT 2004 EPA removes Love Canal from Superfund List EPA SARA requires 5-year reviews and reports for locations that store hazardous waste on site REMIDIAL ACTIONS January 15, 2014 Third review report published by EPA Currently 153 active monitoring wells NO ISSUES . 132 overburden All systems working per design . 21 bedrock 24 Habitability Studies 25 1982 EPA assessment of air, water & soil for future use . US Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) reviews study for habitability of area . DHHS determines the area is habitable, provided the sewers and drains are cleaned June 1982 Congressional Office of Technology Assessment did not agree with DHHS report as the data did not support their conclusion August 1983 EPA establishes Technical Review Committee (TRC) with reps. from EPA, DHHS, CDC, NYSDOH, & NYSDEC December 1986 HABITABILITY STUDIESHABITABILITY TRC adopts “Love Canal Emergency Declaration Area Proposed Habitability Criteria” using air & soil chemical substance measurement parameters 26 Only guideline available for soil was CDC’s dioxin level of 1 ppb Love Canal Emergency Air guideline selected known site chemicals designated as Love Canal Indicator Chemicals (LCICs) Declaration Area Proposed . Chlorobenzene . Habitability 2-chlorotoluene . 4-chlorotoluene Criteria Measured levels to be compared to similar neighborhoods outside EDA 27 Habitability Studies 28 1986 & 1987 Habitability soil sampling completed . One out of 2,274 samples detected dioxin > 1ppb . Sample point east of former school site detected 17 to 21 ppb July to December 1987 Habitability air sampling completed . 562 out of 606 houses sampled . One house located on 98th Street in Tier 4 contained chlorobenzene at 3.4 ppb in ground floor, none detected in basement September 1988 NYSDOH finished five year Habitability Study . EDA sections 4 to 7 designated “as habitable as other areas of Niagara Falls” . Refused to declare these areas as safe HABITABILITY STUDIESHABITABILITY . EDA sections 1 to 3 designated not suitable for residences, but suitable for commercial or industrial use 29 Health Studies 30 December 20, 1983 Lawsuit by 1,328 LC residents against Occidental Chemical Corporation settled for ~$20 million 1995 USDOH for EPA received a $3 million settlement with Occidental Chemical Corporation to fund follow-up health studies . US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to administer studies . ATSDR selected NYSDOH to conduct the study 1996 NYSDOH developed ‘Love Canal Follow-up Health Studies” HEALTH STUDIES HEALTH . Background Community Report . Mortality Community Report . Cancer Study Community Report . Reproductive Outcomes Community Report . Blood Serum Investigation Community Report 31 Population basis were residents One fourth were children (or their children) interviewed in 1978-1980 1978-1982 by NYSDOH (6,181) NYSDOH LOVE CANAL FOLLOW-UP Equal number of residents HEALTH STUDY: Used residence distance from who lived or moved away the canal to estimate exposures from LC 1978-1982 Background Community Report
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