I asked friends
and family to watch the Love Canal videos and also read an article about recent
chemical dumping in Pennsylvania waterways, found at the link below.
They were prompted
to respond as follows:
Please watch the
following movie clip, read the article, and comment with your reaction to the video and/or article. These kinds
of things are still happening today.
1. It's too bad the
city overlooked the environmental health issues when they purchased
the land to build the school. I'm assuming they knew full well that it
had been a dumpsite but were convinced that it would be self-containing.
I believe we now have laws that require sellers to declare what the land
was used for. The land would then have to be tested to determine whether
it’s safe for the public. Seems like back then there was no legal
obligation to declare what the site was used for previously. It's too bad
all those people lost their homes but it’s hard to point a finger as to who’s
responsible for the mess created at the Love Canal.
2. I found the
information in the article and the video quite sickening. There isn't much I
can do about industrial waste sites, but it does make me think twice about the
household cleaners I use that get flushed down my sink. Thanks for
sharing.
3. Let
me first start off by saying I am generally pretty right winged (NRA, meat and
potatoes...) rather than left winged (EPA, PETA, vegan...) :) I think self
proclaimed "environmentalists" have done more to hurt the environment
than help. Maybe I am just talking about the radicals but...anyway. About your
article and video...
My first thought
was, "Well, you paid $1 for a bunch of land with a deed which specifically
stated that it was used as a toxic dump site.... you get what you pay
for!" I do feel bad for the families in Love Canal who were affected but
you really can't blame the company who used it as a dumpsite. Ya, putting a
school there was stupid but who is to blame? The state I guess or whoever it
was who bought the land. The sad thing is that most people see something like
that and think, "Gee, what a bunch of big business pigs! Dumping their
carcinogenic waste onto little Timmy's playground! Save Bambi! Save the trees!
and Free Willie!" Haha ok I'm getting a little carried away . . . but those are my thoughts. Hindsight is always 20/20 so it is hard to
look back 50 years ago and judge who was right and who was wrong.
As a pharmacist I
am very aware of how even a little bit of xenobiotic (chemical foreign to the
body) can affect body development and function. It is scariest to me to think
of all of the unknown pollutants that can be affecting my growing children.
5. It is
pretty compelling. If make me feel very sorry for the unsuspecting
people who went through the nightmare. It makes me feel sad that people
thought that this kind of thing wouldn't cause any harm to anyone. It
makes you mad at businesses that put profits before safety.
6. Hmmm. . . I think the radicals on both sides of environmental issues need to find some middle ground. The earth is here for us to USE and to LIVE. Obviously we are stewards of the land and must take care of it but over-regulation will simply destroy commerce and economy.
7. Although I am not a
big fan of government intrusion I believe the government has a
responsibility to protect its citizens. So the policing/"over-regulation" of the EPA seems
necessary. That being said, I still think that there are enough greedy and dishonest
people in the world that they will find a way to get around regulations and do
things that are potentially harmful. As a society, we
all benefit from the products that come from these industries that pollute.
How much are we willing to give up or how much more are we willing to pay
for products from these industries in order to make them have no effect on
the environment. We can't blame it all on the industries. We
need to become less of a consuming nation and conserve.
8. I am curious what
kind of long-term health effects they experienced or if that data was
kept?
Makes me reflect on
how apathetic mankind can be... I was struck by this quote from the movie:
"(There were) ...no regulations to stop them at the time… soon grass grew
and helped hide what festered a few feet below.” It's like, "Let's just
pretend this isn't here and it will go away!"
9. I was surprised that homes and a school were built right on the site- especially when they knew that toxic waste had been dumped there. It is alarming that a company with such a high amount of toxic waste was so negligent and irresponsible. This truly was a large-scale disaster. It makes me consider what "toxins" we allow ourselves to be exposed to through cleaning products, pesticides, etc that are labeled as safe. On a small scale we could all contribute to a cleaner/safer world by not purchasing and using these items. Also how do we dispose of toxic products? Just because they are disposed of and leave our homes they are still part of our world. It is alarming the amount of money that goes into toxic waste clean up and even more alarming are the health issues that innocent people are left with.
10. This situation
highlights the importance of community activism. I read more about Lois Gibbs
and I think she is the heroine of this story- she rallied her neighborhood and
they formed the Love Canal Homeowner's Association, which pressured President
Carter to declare the site a disaster area and to relocate the families. One
person can have an impact.
Finally, this
opened my eyes to the issue of abandoned hazardous waste. I had no idea there
were so many Superfund sites. Makes me sad that as a whole we are not better
stewards of the earth.
Personal comments:
1. Were you aware
that environmental tragedies of this magnitude still exist today?
While I cannot
say I was ignorant to the fact that these environmental tragedies existed today,
I was not fully aware of the magnitude of the pollution and chemical dumping
that is taking place. For example, the article I found stated, “Polluters dump
10 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Pennsylvania’s lakes, rivers and streams
every year.” 10 million pounds! That is an incredibly sickening amount of
chemicals and quite a daunting environmental problem to address, bring to a
halt, and clean up.
2. To what degree
do environmental tragedies affect you/your family on a day-to-day basis?
I do not feel
that these environmental tragedies directly affect my family on a day to day,
and I think many people across this nation feel the same. The fact that many
people feel this way is actually quite unfortunate because, although we may not
be seeing the direct effects of pollution on a daily basis, I am sure there are numerous ways by which we are being indirectly affected. Also, we cannot ignore the environmental
problems forever just because we feel insolated from them at the present. I
believe they will eventually catch up with us, and perhaps not until it is too
late to reverse much of the damage caused.
I believe the
primary reason we take time in schools and society in general to read, reread, and study the
stories of the past is to learn from people who have lived before us. We can
mimic ways in which they have been successful and happy while also avoiding
patterns of living that have proven to be ineffective and sometimes
devastating. We need to care about the Love Canal tragedy enough to learn from
it and prevent history from repeating itself. Each generation has the
opportunity to choose to reject the harmful and selfish practices of their
forefathers and shape a new and inspired path that will be a blessing to their
posterity. We need to care about and learn from Love Canal so we can be that
generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment