Elyssa Miller - Love Canal

I informed some of my friends and family about the Love Canal tragedy and also shared with them an article about the Gulf coral being damaged by deep-water horizon oil spills. Here are their comments and reactions:

1.       “That was such a horrible tragedy. It reminds me of the Simpson’s episode when Home fights the government and said, “Look son, now the system works. Now the planes are flying where the planes are supposed to fly, over the homes of poor people.” The government treats the poor people worse.  The love canal was a disaster that was inflicted because they were poor.  It is a crime that the government makes different rules based on the income of the neighborhoods.  The government would have fixed this problem, if the people would have spoken up, but they didn't because they didn't know how to speak for themselves.” –Richard Miller

2.        “That is not something we can really prevent. It is kind of a trial and error thing. And when we mess it up, it sucks. But that’s just what happens.”  – Olivia Corey

3.       “That sounds sad. It could have been prevented! We need to have safer business practices so it doesn’t happen again.”  – Logan Jensen

4.       “I think the standards put forth by chemical companies now are good enough to prevent this. I don't think anything needs to be changed but people need to do their homework before they decide to live somewhere or a city is being planned. We can't change the past but we can learn from it.  It's terrible what happened to those people that had to deal with it but that doesn't mean the government has to pay 7 million to fix it.  Ownership shouldn't be confusing since someone has to own it even if it does change a lot.  I think if people were a little more aware and knowledgeable and careful we could avoid these problems.  People ignore warning signs and labels and think everything is okay.  But if we paid attention to the already super controlled labels and warnings and read the fine print when we do things, we would be able to know what we get into. If we try to control chemicals any more it would stifle innovation and any increase in price would drive away research.  We know how to safely dispose of chemicals, we just have to keep doing what those standards say. We have extensive studies on chemical disposal and how to do it safely. Humans should be smart and use and profit from technology and research in an innovative and safe manner.” – Aaron Miller

5.       “That should not have happened. Why would anybody ever permit building over an industrial chemical dumpsite. Those who build homes today should take the responsibility to make sure that this never happens again. We can learn from the mistakes of this horrifying story and make sure that it never happens again.  Sham on those people who provoke environmental tragedies.“ –Alex Frandsen

6.        “That makes me feel more responsible to action for things that I can control. I believe that these kinds of tragedies can be controlled, but most people are not making the environment a big enough priority to prevent this from happening again.”  –Molly Cordy

7.       “That’s straight up wrong. People should be more aware of where they are disposing their chemicals and the harm that it could potentially threaten the area with.” –Xander Moffitt

8.       “I am upset about ignorance. I wish the people would have thought ahead. I am a little bit anxious if this is going to happen to somebody I know.”  – David Bates

9.       “I am frustrated that people are thinking ahead and wanting to be aware that I am not in an area that this would happen. This reminds of the dumpsite in Spanish Fork where they tried to build a neighborhood over a landfill. This is not a fit place to live. I need to be aware of the places I plan of living.” –Alyssa Lewis

10.   “Woah, didn’t know that ever happened! It makes me worried of what else is out there today that could be affecting me! Maybe I should look into this some more.  Am I going to get burns on my hands and faces when I play outside? That we be awful.” –Jensen Smith

My Reactions:

Were you aware that environmental tragedies of this magnitude still exist today?

I had no idea that these kinds of things are happening today! I know that the environment is being harmed and not taken care of properly due to either lack of concern or lack of money. But I did not know the magnitude of the environmental tragedies.

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

Although this happened 30 years ago, it provides us with an outline that we can make sure will be avoided in the future. When we look back and analyze past mistakes, we can learn from them.  It would bed devastating if this happened again, especially because we now know what caused it and how to prevent it.

Based on the impact environmental tragedies affect you/your family how likely are you to take action against disasters like this one?

After learning more about these tragedies, of course I want to take action to stop these heartbreaking kinds of environmental disasters.  But my only problem is I do not know how I can help.  I think that this subject matter is not talked about enough, and the normal American is not aware of it. If I knew specific ways to help I would, but nobody has advertised any remedy that I can participate in.  I think that this should be changed, and this should be a subject that is better broadcasted across America.