Love Canal (Environmental Disaster)

Love Canal was a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, where, in the late 1970s, residents discovered that toxic chemical waste buried by a company decades earlier was leaking into their homes and schools. This exposure led to serious health issues, including cancers and birth defects. The situation attracted national attention, prompting government investigations and the evacuation of families. Love Canal became a symbol of the environmental movement, highlighting the dangers of industrial pollution and leading to stronger regulations on hazardous waste management in the United States. It spurred the creation of the Superfund program to clean up contaminated sites.