Love Canal Assignment - Sarah Cunningham

I posted a short video about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJNyA4WmJyY&NR=1&feature=endscreen) along with the article and videos about the Love Canal and I asked for people to comment about their thoughts and reactions to these environmental tragedies. Here are the 10 comments I received:

1) I think it’s awful that they even let them dump waste in an area where people are going to live. Businesses need to take more precautions and there need to be greater consequences so that these things are less likely to happen.

2) That is just horrible, I can't believe stuff like that actually happens. I agree that businesses really should take greater precautions.

3) It’s upsetting because you would think someone would be more responsible. I don’t understand how a waste site was able to be inhabited by people. There should’ve been stipulations to how the land could be used. Maybe they were just ignorant about how dangerous these chemicals actually were and the effects they could have.

4) These were both terrible. Referring to the oil spill though, it seems like BP is a company that follows through with what they said they would do, for the most part.

5) I’m just glad I haven’t been affected that much by an environmental tragedy. I didn’t think that these kinds of things were a problem today, but I guess they are. Living on a toxic waste dump would be a nightmare. At least they have it covered up and are trying to monitor the chemicals released.

6) Wow. This is disgusting. I'm surprised that they let this go on and that this is still even an issue, even after they know what the chemicals do!

7) I feel so bad for those families that had to pay for the consequences of others’ actions. I couldn’t even imagine how I would handle that situation.

8) This is such a horrible incident, but I feel like the government did the best job that it could to remove the people from Love Canal and try and prevent the harsh chemicals from affecting others further.

9) WOW! I had never heard about the Love Canal Tragedy before. This is so interesting, and so terrible. I can’t believe that people would knowingly build a school and community on a toxic waste land. What were people thinking?

10) I find it sad that some people involved in the Love Canal tragedy were aware they were building over a chemical dumpsite that had been filled over and yet still chose to live there because they didn't think it would affect their lives. To prevent future ignorance the public needs to be educated about the dangers and risks of chemicals, and companies need to be honest regarding the locations of these chemical dumpsites. And in regards to the BP oil catastrophes, I think that companies should be required to regularly check their pipe lines, plants, equipment, and what not for corrosion and defects. And when accidents happen, I think it is appropriate for the companies to be fined as much money as necessary to clean up the mess.

My comments:

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

• I feel like higher standards need to be implemented where needed so there is greater monitoring of companies, machinery, and how materials are used. I feel like basic common sense could’ve prevented a lot of the damage that was created in the Love Canal Tragedy. Why would you build a school on a toxic waste dump? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I’m sure there is more that I’m not aware of. I also think it’s important to inform the public when these things happen and get the government involved when it’s appropriate.

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

• I don’t feel like we should be concerned about environmental hazards on a daily basis. They don’t happen on a daily basis, and as society learns from mistakes of the past and new improvements in technology are constantly being made I feel like less tragedies will occur in the future. I don’t recall every being directly affected by an environmental hazard, so that could be why I don’t think they are that big of a concern today, but I definitely know that when they do occur they have lasting impacts and effect many people.

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

• It is important for society to learn from mistakes of the past so that we don’t make them again. As we learn about things that happened in the past, like the Love Canal Tragedy, we can also gain a greater appreciation for the laws and requirements that are enforced for our protection.