ABSTRACT
Informal health surveys conducted by alarmed residents, led by Lois Gibbs, revealed an unusually high incidence of birth defects; miscarriages; assorted cancers; and nerve, respiratory, and kidney disorders among residents. Again, complaints to local officials had little effect. But continued pressure from local residents led New York State officials to conduct more systematic health and environmental surveys, which confirmed the suspicions of the residents (miscarriages were four times higher than normal). They found that the air, water, and soil of the area, as well as the basements of houses, were badly contaminated with toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. In 1978, the state closed the school and relocated more than 200 families living closest to the dump. After outraged protests from the remaining residents and investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a federal disaster area and relocated all families who wanted to move. About 45 families remained, unwilling or unable to sell their houses to New York State and move. In 1985, former residents received payments from an out-of-court settlement from Occidental Chemical Corporation (which had bought Hooker in 1968), from the city of Niagara Falls, and from the school board. Payments ranged from $2,000 to $400,000 for claims of injuries ranging from persistent rashes and migraine headaches to severe mental retardation. By 1988, a U.S. District Court ruled that Occidental Chemical must pay cleanup costs and relocation costs, which had reached $250 million, but the company appealed that ruling.
