Former Chemical Dump in Upstate New York Formally Removed from Superfund List

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The site of a former chemical dump that led to an environmental disaster more than two decades ago was formally removed from the federal Superfund list recently.

NIAGARA FALLS, New York — The site of a former chemical dump that led to an environmental disaster more than two decades ago was formally removed from the federal Superfund list recently.


The Love Canal neighborhood in Niagara Falls had been built on and around the former dump, and by the 1960s and '70s contaminated groundwater was leaching into backyards and school grounds.


President Carter declared two federal environmental emergencies in 1978 and 1980, leading to the evacuation of 950 families. Passage of the Superfund law soon followed.


"Love Canal taught us that we needed a mechanism to address abandoned hazardous waste sites, especially those that posed a threat to people's health," said Jane Kenny, the Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator.


The EPA in March recommended the site be taken off the list.


Some homes have been revitalized and re-inhabited; others were bulldozed and the land deemed safe only for industry. In the center is a fenced area, including the 16-acre canal dump site where chemicals remain buried under a thick clay cap, a high-density liner, and topsoil and surrounded by a barrier drainage system.


Source: Associated Press