When Lois Gibbs found out that she and her family were living on land poisoned by toxic chemicals, she began to investigate the impacts of the environment she lived in on other people in the area. Gibbs discovered that her entire community was negatively impacted by the toxic land. She started the Love Canal Parents Movement (LCPM) in June 1978 to educate her community about the dangers of living near the Love Canal.
The Movement spread awareness of the conditions surrounding Love Canal, and it solved the problem, but only to a very limited extent. The Love Canal Homeowners Association (LCHA) was formed, and it was made up of 500 families that interviewed families and made a map of disease clusters around the Love Canal area. An important study completed in 1979 found that rates of stillbirths, urinary tract disorders, nervous breakdowns, hyperactivity, and epilepsy increased. Additionally, there were three times as many miscarriages as last measured, and 56% of the babies in the area were born with a birth defect (like mental retardation, or growing another ear).
The LCPM and LCHA began appealing to the public and even the government because the previously mentioned study was dismissed by the state authorities. A second evacuation of children and pregnant women was issued, and a total evacuation was completed in 1980 after being issued by President Carter. In the end, the residents at Love Canal were proved wrong in the belief that the government would always be there to protect them.
If I remember correctly, the government had issued an evacuation, but only for the families closest to the canal. This left Lois and other families that were just a few houses outside of the border the government drew angry, and still in contact with the chemicals. This led to Lois getting together with the other families and holding government officials locked in a house in the area until the government also evacuated all of the families in contact with the chemicals.
ReplyDelete