Courtney Hope 

Love Canal Report

Along with the article on Love Canal, I sent my friends and family a video on the oil spill in 2010 at the Gulf of Mexico. I asked them to then answer the question, “In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis”? I got a variety of different answers, and this is what was said:

1.     No, we have bigger global issues to worry about than to worry about the environment on a daily basis. There are enough government protective actions that on a big picture basis yes we should be concerned, but not to the extent we need to worry about it on a daily basis.

2.     Environmental hazards are definitely something that we not only should be concerned about on a daily basis, but NEED to be concerned about. The oil spill in 2010 and the Love Canal Tragedy could have a reappearance any day, we'll never know, but we need to be prepared for it because of the global impact it has on several nations and the people, economy, and environment back home. Environmental hazards are unpredictable, and because of this, we always need to be prepared.

3.     Yes, if we don’t, nobody else will. People are self-interested and will only do things that serve themselves. We want the economy to be clean and be around for our children’s children so it is something we should be concerned about.

4.     I don't think that environmental hazards are something we need to worry about on a daily basis. Events like that of the 2010 oil spill are freak incidents and aren't something that happen on a regular basis, so there's really no reason to be constantly concerned about it. We can't foresee tragedies like those, so I think it'd be a wasted effort to constantly worry about major environmental hazards when they only ever rarely happen.

5.     I definitely think that environmental hazards are something to worry about. Daily? Not so much. I think something like gigantic landfills and oil spills aren't something that happens on a daily basis. A lot of these times things like that are accidental... which doesn't concern me every day. And chemical build up and landfills don't form overnight. If it is something that can be improved upon every day in my local sphere than I usually care/ am concerned with it more (recycling, littering, planting trees, local water quality. community betterment, etc). I was lucky enough to live in the town with the most successful water-recycling program (SAWS). I think things like that are more prevalent to me. The little strategies can be improved so they don't result in a bad outcome. 

6.     I wouldn't say that environmental hazards are something we necessarily need to be concerned about on a daily basis, but it is something that the government needs to be concerned about on a daily basis. The government holds the responsibility for drilling oil, and therefore holds responsibility for the oil spill and all other consequences that follow. I believe it is the government's responsibility to be prepared for events like this that damages the environment, but not something that we as citizens need to worry about.

7.     Yes, my big concern after reading about the love canal is that there are environmental concerns that are not told to us. We are at a risk daily of unknown hazards that are not disclosed to us by the government.

8.     I definitely think that people should be more concerned about the environmental hazards that occur. Many people do not realize the impact that these hazards have on human life as well as animal life. Most humans do not care or even notice how environmental hazards influence animals. For example, oil spills cause many animals to get hypothermia. Birds were weighed down by the oil in their feathers and could drown. If animals accidentally ingested the oil, it could cause damage to the inside of the animal like bleeding stomachs.

9.     Yes I think we need to be concerned about environmental hazards on a daily basis. We need to protect the earth for future generations. We need to not take this lightly because global warming is really affecting the earth; there is proof of it all around us. If we do not change the trend and are not concerned with it daily, global warming will continue and we will be in a serious state of disaster.

10. I don’t know, I mean I think we should be concerned but not putting all of our focus into it. I think the people who really need to focus are the ones who are going into jobs that actually deal with this kind of stuff because they are the ones who will really do something about it.

My Responses:

1.     In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis.

In my opinion, I think that environmental hazards are something we should be concerned about on a daily basis. I do not, however, think it is something that we need to stay up all night worrying about it. I think that we should be concerned about it because we never know when there will be an environmental disaster that could have easily been prevented with a little caution and preventative measures. I think its something we should be concerned about because many other people think that someone else will take care of it so why should they worry about it. Someone needs to be concerned about it!

2.    Environmental tragedies still exist today; what can we do today to mitigate these problems?

I think there are many things that we can do to mitigate the problems of environmental tragedies. I think one important thing we can do is to make sure that we properly dispose of waste (Especially toxic waste), and make sure it is being taken care of so that it will not harm people/animals. I also think another big solution is to really enforce recycling!

3.    Why should we care about something that happened over 30 years ago?

I think that we should be concerned about something that happened over 30 years ago because there are many instances in which history is known to repeat itself. The company who dumped their chemicals and sold it without telling people about the dangers was very dishonest. Who is to say that there are not other similar dishonest companies who have done the same thing and not told people about it? For all we know our own homes and schools could be built on a toxic waste dump. I think this situation just makes us realize that we need to be more cautious and aware.