Joseph Vang Love Canal Environmental Tragedy

Joseph Vang Public Health 100

Have you guys seen these videos before?  What do you think about these environmental tragedies and what were your reactions to seeing them?

Mai: Hey I watched and I find it so interesting. It makes me a bit frustrated and sad that the company that bought the land would just dump toxin and waste into the canal and bury it. I think that it is not right for the company to do that and hurting families that was not aware of this. It definitely makes me questions the history of the area that I am living in. It is extremely important that we take good care of the area that we live in.

Sean: I didn't know about either of those. However, I think that its good that we're taking precautions to try and avoid future issues as well as try our best to fix the old ones. Of course we can't fix them completely, but it's safer now than it used to be (esp places like Love Canal). It's unfortunate things like the Love Canal happen, but when a business does things it's motivated by money and profit, just like any other business and it's hard to fault them too much. Many businesses make mistakes that effect people that shouldn't be effected, it's just unfortunate that it happened that way. And sometimes accidents or bad judgement happen (BP oil spill for example). We just need to try and become better and improve on the past. P.S. I wouldn't choose to live anywhere where a major environmental disaster has happened. That seems stupid to me honestly. 

Samuel: Man! I knew that there were problems like this happening in the world but I didn't know that it had such a big impact not only for the environment but for people too

Jaron: Thanks for sharing bro! I thought it was interesting and how these toxic stuff is just like a second hand smoking but just a bit different... It can affect others and the environment

Judy: These problems are amazing and scary because there's still so many more problems like this in the world. I could relate a little when they were talking about the pollution and it's affect to the water and environment because of my water class I took! Really makes me ponder on what we're doing to the world!

Ayee: My first and initial thought when watching the videos on Love Canal were, "would the same chemical pollution illicit the same response had it occurred in another community, namely a low-income community?" I know that this frame of thought perhaps is more of a social work/public health perspective, but I couldn't help but wonder if the same support and quick response would have been provided had it happened in my neighborhood for example. Regardless of the location though, these unfortunate events affect innocent people. These people are harmed by their environment and suffer the consequences of choices made by businesses.

When I think of similar instances, I think of food desserts. Though not directly related to these videos, the food we eat can serve as pollutants and therefore create health complications. Food desserts again are results of the marketing and business worlds and the people affected by these decisions once again are those who are helpless. Those who live in those neighborhoods. I once learned through public health forums and associations that your zip code determines your health, and these are all examples supporting this statement.

Another example that came to mind was the sale of infant (milk) formula in countries with contaminated water. (I learned about this in one of my science classes. Forgot which.) Businesses intentionally sell formula to people in countries that lack clean water and also the education to know any better. They advertise the formula as having essential and beneficial nutrients, which is true. However, they also do so knowing that these countries will not have clean water to mix with the formulas. As a result, many of the children develop health complications and infections. Again, those who suffer are the innocent people who often are too trusting of businesses.

I do want to note though that in each case, people made the decision to either live in neighborhoods or consume products. This makes me question how much information was shared with them? What knowledge did they have and did they have the proper education to make an informed decision?

It saddens me to know that these events have happened, continue to happen, and will most undoubtedly happen again. Rather than try to blame one person or entity though, I think it is more progressive and beneficial to find solutions to prevent it from happening again. In the case that it should happen again, there needs to be a protocol set in place to address the issue and to hold parties responsible for their actions and choices.

April: I've heard of Love Canal before, but it's still super sad. I hadn't heard of the Aral Sea.I don't know about anything similar, but I know of a couple of nuclear plants that have exploded. For instance, the Chernobyl accident in Russia in the 80s, Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in 2011. Also, when my mom was pregnant with me, we lived in Henderson, Nevada. The PEPCON plant exploded, injuring lots of people and contaminating the air, along with a whole lot of destruction. Finally, there is a landfill near my house (about 20 minutes away). I know it's probably hazardous, but, it's also sort of cool because the county has come in and beautified the area. They have plans to make a park out of it with sidewalks, trees, flowers, and lots of grass (pretty uncommon in LA county). Yeah, Pomona, CA might become the next Love Canal, but still, at least it's pretty, right? Just kidding: I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) that landfills are somehow better than they were in the 70s. Otherwise, the almost 10 million people living in LA county will start having problems! Here is a link to news article highlighting opposition to the landfill. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8372174 Here is a link to the explosion (the explosions themselves begin about 2 minutes into it). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOPP4ZBgnoA

Dia: I guess I wasn't aware of this going on. I think I've kind of heard about these situations before but never really actually knew the reality and seriousness of it. It's a a scary thing.

Ben: this is nuts!!! and i can't believe people are still living there! It's crazy that people would put other people's health on the line like that, just cause they're too lazy to take care of their waste. What bums. Thank goodness for public health professionals and all the regulations we have 

Marilyn: Joseph this is so scary!  I wonder why the people still live there now?  It’s so sad, but I hope everything will be okay for them.  I didn’t know that there were problems like this going on in the modern days.