Resident of the falls here. This place is so crappy. There is a daily smell that emanates when entering downtown via the bridge. Some times it smells like sulfur, other times sewerage. The tourist area is beautiful but not even a quarter mile away there is nothing but poverty and abandoned houses. The mall has stores closing left and right. This city is a literal dead end and has nothing going for it. I am in the process of relocating after being trapped here for over a decade. Rent is cheap but I wouldn't recommend this city to anyone.
It’s not even beautiful, you’re talking about one of the world’s wonders and one of the best natural water views in the world. The tourist area lacks a lot of entertainment places and events. Look up the Canadian NF side and see the difference
@thesmokingroom5731 one time recently there was supposed to be fireworks in the falls that was canceled due to a fire on the Canadian side and it was either on or near a historic street, on the American side there is litteraly a dumpster disposal site on the side of a mountain, there is a lot of crime around 22nd street on the American side and rent is cheap because of the daily crime, I relocated after summer 2019 because of the crime and bad stuff around NF American Side, the city peaked in the 50's which was around 70 years ago and I am not kidding when I said it peaked in the 50's because it had 1 Million people 2023 NF in comparison has 48 Thousand people Back in 1950 NF was rivaling Detroit and now NF is the laughing stock of WNY. NF has litteraly Fell off.
I was born & raised in Love Canal. My family moved away by the time I was 13, but the damage was already done. I have been sick my entire life but the doctors "don't know why". Mainly my bowels have always had issues but drs relate it to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which also translates to "we don't know what it is". Bowels affect the entire rest of bodily health. I have had life-long heart problems and even early onset osteoporosis and arthritis. I was conceived while my parents lived in Griffin Manor housing complex (used to be located right inside the fenced-in area) and also born while there with moving when I was 3 to a few blocks over (91st). But attended elementary school from K-6 at 93rd St School, now torn down and made into a baseball park.
You need to lawyer up. You deserve compensation and medical care paid for, damn I’m so sorry to hear this. My own dad was overseas in Germany in the army, and his team were in the fields and inhaled gasses that were used without their knowing.
@@i_am_gohan9232 I did. About ten years ago when there was a civil suit brought (I don't know if I'm saying it right... When lawyers call out for anyone who may be affected by something and then they go to court representing the whole group). Anyway, last week I got a final notice that they are dropping the case. The State judge sent it to federal court and they kicked it back to State. And the judge decided that the love canal issue is old and the company did pay damages already (a long time ago when I was too young to do anything about it). My suspicion is that the judge was bought off by the company. Anyway.... Nothing can be done.
Same here in Missouri kids born from Times Beach have been sick as adults without explanation. I was conceived at Times Beach and have stomach issues myself
Nearly twenty years ago, my wife (then girlfriend) and I lived in a house in North Tonawanda, as I was temporarily working at nearby General Motors. While I wasn't a fan of the state of New York, we fell in love with the people there. I don't know if I've ever been in an area of the United States that had a seeming more corrupt government. The people of New York deserve better.
I was a little kid living in North Tonawanda when this was happening. (for those who don't know, North Tonawanda is about 5-6 mi southeast of Love Canal) Love Canal may be the big mess that brought attention to the issue, but the entire Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro is lousy with toxic waste sites. That's where electricity was first being generated on industrial scales over 100 years ago, long before environmental regulation was a thing. The early part of the 20th century was a toxic free-for-all. Buffalo was a major industrial center then, some thought it could grow bigger than NYC. I remember where I lived, in the woods behind my house, where all the kids played. Rusty , half buried 55 gallon drums, 'rainbow puddles', and all sorts of different color things coming up from the ground. I was 5, it was all 'fun'. I had no clue. Good thing I moved away a year later. "The news" was just a dumb tv show for grownups back then, so, I didn't know what was going on, but I bet it might have had an influence on my mom's decision to leave Buffalo. She is very concerned about environmental things, always has been.
Thank you for posting this. My mom grew up on 102nd street. I learned about a lot of these things as a child, watching her suffer the consequences of this disaster. My step mom also grew up on 101st street. As a child she told me about how all of the kids would play in the black puddles. How the kids went to their friend's houses to check the sump pumps and basements for black slime. The kids didn't know what it was, the parents were busy and hoping their investments buying a home wasn't turning into a nightmare. The result of them settling to pay off people is disgusting. My mom was paid two settlements for a few thousand dollars, and told not to talk about it any more. Her legs grew incorrectly and she spent her middle school years in a wheelchair. Now in her 50s, she's had both knees and both hips replaced. It's a tragedy but it only betrays a sad fact. The people who are in charge of large decisions are no more competent than most people. It's so easy for someone to just take money and turn their back on an obvious problem. We need to always stop and say, the politicians who lie for a career, and their hand-selected cronies, do not have our best interests in mind. I would love to see a video like this on the Lake Ontario Ordinance Works and how the military sold the majority of Youngstown to a school district when it was land filled with toxic chemicals.
@@margomargo7999 Yes, you are right. I went to the school and my daughter does now too. I always confuse the towns around Lew-Port. The Town of Porter is confusing in general.
It's only going to get worse with the dirtbags in DC passing a bill to spend the country into total destruction. And Brandon's most pathetic lie EVER: It won't cost anything! What the hell is he smoking?!
@@largol33t1 He quit smoking a long time ago, now he just sniffs kids to bring back the memories. We don't need to worry about the trillions of dollars it will cost, his son is going to sell a couple masterworks and pay the debt off himself.
Fellow lew-port grad here. We also had that radioactive water tower behind the school. And a whole lot more. Lake Ontario ordinance works could use more coverage. That was all Manhattan project and WWII secret stuff.
I live in Niagara Falls, and I remember the story of a young girl who fell into a sink hole in Love Canal while she was playing outside and when they pulled her out, her legs were caked with black sludge. Her skin was burned from the chemicals. It affected me even as an 8 year old... such a crime against humanity and unforgivable.
I grew up in Buffalo before the EPA was created in 1970. (LOVE CANAL was a few minutes north) anything went before that, dump crap anywhere, the soot from the smokestacks covered your homes and cars. today Niagara falls Canada is a Canadian Vegas, The American side is a ghetto with nothing. New York cant organize a lemonade stand. by the way there are radioactive dump sites up there too.
My dad was employed by Otis Elevator out of Buffalo, and was sent to do some repair/ install work at Hooker Chemical. He later developed prostate cancer. Mom was convinced that this was the result of being exposed to dioxins at Hooker. The Rust Belt is riddled with toxic sites like Love Canal. Growing up in Buffalo, so many of my relatives have died of cancer or related complications.
My aunt used to live on 91st. Street. I have walked around the love canal many times and even explored the abandoned school...but that was in the 90's...way before TH-cam
they had camcorders back then. find the footage and upload it. Unless that is - you didn’t think of preserving your experience. in that case, you were a slacker!!!
@@davidjames666 yo do realize camcorders cost a pretty penny back then and every body didnt have the means to buy one. even if you had one at home parents would not allow the kids to take with them to places like this.
I'm old enough to remember this story being on TV news and it always bothered me that Hooker Chemical was getting all the blame and not the local government who decided to build on the site. Thanks for presenting a balanced commentary on who was responsible
None of this was Hooker Chemicals fault. Sure they lied to cover their asses from liability but what they were doing was completely legal back when they did it. And Hooker Chemical isn't the only company in WNY who had a dump site with hazardous material in the area.
I live in Niagara Falls N.Y and developers have built apartment buildings RIGHT ACROSS the street from love canal dumping spot . You can look at the tree's and see that they aren't doing well .
Went through the abandoned houses back in the mid 90s. Almost all of those houses are gone now. Also, they built new houses, saying it was "safe", nearby. Can't believe anyone would buy there...
"They" ( the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency) put the big push on to resettle Love Canal. 12 years/ $250 million+++ . 1990: The All Clear was given. All the sick and dying people. The dogs that would root around in the dirt, your lawn, just the ground in general, would sometimes be dead three hours later. The grass clumps, pieces of your lawn with a little soil attached. ( Sod) Take that small clump and smash it on the pavement. Watch it explode.
My bus takes me through Niagara Falls twice per day. One memory I will always have was on the first day of high school, I looked out the bus window and saw a man with a gun walking down the street. My grandpa lived here in the 40s and 50s. He tells me stories of how beautiful and vibrant the city was. It makes me sad how it’s gone down the drain. Homeless people everywhere.
It's been 40 and a half years since the state bought our house on 102nd Street (I dream about the move several times a month) and we evacuated. No health problems at all yet but what already run in my family, so nothing attributable to the canal. No malignancies. Very thankful for my health.
Greed is almost always at the center of most shameful stories in this country. If we aren’t careful It will be our downfall. Great video Ace, I can’t wait to see more.
The USA is all about greed 100%, They have literally priced themselves out of the world market because of it but wanna cry it's China's or anyone but their own fault. Greed will be why the USA collapses it's just a matter of time.
Late '70's I was sitting at a bar in Rochester NY talking with a man who had arrived to address the Love Canal issue. He gave me my intro to the tragedy. Having participated in the 1st Earth Day I was in complete shock. Then a dry cleaner in our downtown was identified as a brown field and the rest is history. One right after another identified. Thanks for the exposure/reminder. Stay united.
One thing I did not hear you mention, the city of Niagara Falls threatened to eminent domain the canal from hooker before they “sold” it to them. The city itself has a role in all this and they willingly sold the land for development knowing that those chemicals were there.
Hooker: This is dangerous, toxic land that sould never be built on. Moronic School District: What an awesome place for a school and The Toxic Avenger can be its mascot!
I lived a short distance from there on River road. I had 2 young lab mix dogs get out of the yard once. I found them a week later in love canal area. Neither of these dogs lived past 5 years old, both died of aggressive cancers.
Thank you for this posting. I remember this story, as a kid. Back in the 70s, I had relatives that lived in Niagara Falls, Ontario & how terrified they were of this horrible disaster!
My mom used to work at roswell park during the time this was a big issue; they'd liquify soil samples from love canal and inject it into lab mice and track the results. Most mice wound up with boils, fur falling off, and bodily deformities like a crooked neck.
I live in Chattanooga TN, and there’s an area near me that used to be the Hercules Powder Company/ Volunteer Army Ammunition Co. they made TNT and explosives raw materials there from WW2 until the late 70’s. And I can assure you that the abandoned portions of it has seen it’s fair share of toxic ooze coming up from the ground after a rain storm. The non abandoned section of it is now a walking trail and you can walk into some of the old storage bunkers used to keep explosives after manufacture.
You forgot to mention that one of the founders of Hooker Chemical is Al Gore Sr. I used to live in Niagara Falls CA, and learned a lot about chemical dumping in Ontario. Studied Love Canal and when I got to TN found "Hooker Tailings ponds" and looked up history to find Al Gore Sr was founder. The Tailings ponds are advertised as great for fishing.
That's BS, Gore Sr. grew up on a farm in Tennessee and worked his way through collage teaching. After graduating he work on a failed political campaign of Congressman Gordon Browning running for Governor. Successful in his second run for governor, Browning named Gore commissioner of labor in 1937. In 1938 Gore won election to represent the Fourth Tennessee District in the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding Congressman Ridley Mitchell. Thus began thirty-two years of public service representing Tennessee in the House (1939-53) and the U.S. Senate (1953-71). In 1970 Republican William Brock III defeated Gore for the U.S. Senate In 1971 Gore lectured at Vanderbilt University and was a Fellow at Harvard University. He devoted his energies to writing and to the practice of law before becoming chairman of the board of Island Creek Coal Company and director and executive vice-president of Occidental Petroleum Corporation from September 1972 through August 1983. He continued on the Occidental Petroleum board of directors until 1998. To summarize almost everything you said is wrong and if you spent five minutes doing research you would have avoided making a fool of yourself.
Thank you Anthony for this video - this isn't like your usual vids - you show emotion and anger at all the decisions made and didn't hold back. As someone who doesn't live too far from the Niagara area and finds its history fascinating, I appreciate this video and hope you do more like it someday, hopefully on happier topics.
I've been following you ever since seeing that stranger things mall video but for some reason your videos don't show up on my feed. I just came to watch this one. You are one talented documentary maker! I thoroughly enjoyed this even though I'm not from the US. I'm gonna go binge your videos now!
I'm from downtown Niagara Falls NY and let me tell you its been a slum and full of corrupt politics for at least 30years, most of the homes people live in out there are old and need repairs unless you own it and can afford to fix it, and all the abandoned houses sitting around Falls street and the casino area is just disgusting and they're willingly leaving it this way.
I live about 40 minutes from Ottawa, Illinois. My father grew up in Ottawa. Ottawa is another place that received Super Funds for clean up because of Radium Dial. The book Radium Girls by Kate Moore is very good!!
Wow, this gave me chills. I live about a quarter mile from the site on 86th street and this has got me thinking about why so many people in this area to this day are still getting sick. Great mini documentary, It's reinvigorated my interest into the disaster.
same here,87th street, this area is still in use there are baseball fields close to this and people walk their dogs still here, and elderly facility too
My aunt and uncle were among the few who refused to leave. I remember driving to their house as a little girl in the late 80’s and being curious about (and a little scared of) all the abandoned homes, schools and churches around them.
Did your aunt &uncle have any health problems from it, it must of been a hassle to live there. I mean I wouldn't even want to take shower or use the tap water for cooking or even washing my dishes
A lot of the stuff they dug up is reburied in the fenced-in mound near Griffon Park on River Road. And, they had begun digging near Wilson, NY at the same time as the original canal was going to be put in. There's as much waste buried along Lake Ontario as was in Niagara Falls. Not many people know that. Thanks for putting this in the spotlight again. Stay safe and healthy out there! Thank you for sharing a part of your day with us!
The Summer of 1980 we went to Niagara Falls from Massachusetts and were in a campground near Love Canal. Though we had seen it on the News we had no idea how close we were. That night we went to get food and beer, ending up in Love Canal area. It was close by. There were no barriers and we freely drove thru this area. I think we saw 2 homes with lights on. It was like this place was frozen in time, no people but everything remained. I remember those type of signs in peoples yards like you showed in this vid. So sad, it was a nice looking area
Niagara falls even still to this day is riddled with hazardous waste from globe oxy chemical company / hooker even the city itself has been caught dumping sewage into Niagara falls every other year they issue an ordinance for residents to boil tap water. Our city should be so lucrative and updated it is truly sad that it hasn't gotten any better.
Very well put together. I used to live in WNY grand island to be exact. This story was just utter......yeah proof on the corrupt city of Niagara Falls that still to this day exists. Sad.
This was a really good video, and interesting timing as it was only a few weeks ago that I was listening to my usual podcasts and came across an episode on love canal. I had never heard of it before but what a sad tale. I would be tempted to think that there was more corruption now at the highest levels than ever before, but the story proves that corruption has always been around.
Thank you so much for exposing my city for what it really is. It'd be awesome if you could also do a video on the dump here as well. It's gotten outta hand the past few years. The entire city smells like something died. Thanks again! Much love 🙏🏼
I, sumwhat recently moved here from Detroit about six years ago...but THATS the first thing i noticed...The HORRIBLE SMELL and honestly why its even zoned there in the first place is really wierd...
Let's be fair. The city was proposing eminent domain to take over the property, and it was their decision to first build a school, disregarding warnings about the actually dump site and allowing it to be breached. And then selling more of the land to be subdivided for housing, too close to the canal. I'm not saying Hooker should be absolved of blame - they dumped the toxic waste, creating what would still have been an environmental disaster requiring cleanup, since its contents were inevitably heading for the Niagara river, but there were a lot of very poor, stupid decisions made after they relinquished the property to the city.
Yes. It was the governments fault for breaching the cap on dump site. Hooker laid a clay liner which at the time was state of the art. Then they placed the drums of waste in there and followed up by a clay cap. This was my recollections. My friends dad owned a pharmacy there and had to close it down.
@@jamesdellaneve9005 And did they (Hooker) tell the gov't or the school what was at the location? From this report it sounds like, nope, didn't say a peep.
@@kataratify Sorry but it’s been awhile. Yes, it was in the deed transfer that they were not to build on the land. Did they detail what was in there? I have no idea. I am sure that you can find the document since it’s a public record.
@@kataratify They probably didn't know. When the toxic waste was dumped, it was in the 40's, and nobody knew the dangers with dioxins, or a lot of other things. It was just gorp from industrial processes. And Hooker didn't want to sell, but they were threatened with eminent domain. A lot of the chemical waste problems are with the people who get paid to dispose of it (like Times Beach). Or it would pile up on the site. A lot of the remote sites eventually got reached as populations exploded. The procedures were followed when the waste was disposed of, but they weren't adequate.
Normally I tend to agree with government over companies but in this case, the government was at fault from everything I've researched. I don't like chemical dumps but the issue wasn't Hooker's fault in my opinion.
A lot of the problems were caused by the developer. They were told not to put basements in. But they did anyway, and broke the clay cap. They should also go after them.
I was living in California at the time but I vividly remember all the news coverage about Love Canal, the protests and lack of responsibility taken by Hooker Chemical. Now I live a 20 minute drive from Niagara Falls. I hope that those families that relocated back then are still alive and healthy, especially the children.
Worked at Love Canal during the 90's rehabbing over 200 homes where people had to move out of on the north side of the Canal. The north side now has over 200 families living there and is deemed habitable while the south side has been completely torn down other than a couple of hold outs. I think the south side is now commercial use only.
I remember taking my wife and kids there because my daughter was doing a report on Love Canal. I grew up in NT. Kids were creeped out seeing the techs at the time walking around in their hazmat suits. The skull and crossbones ☠️ on parts of the fence didn’t help. She was a little surprised to see that I didn’t live too far from the area.
My elementary school built a playground on a chemical dumping ground and recently tore it down. We'll probably develop some major health issues in the future. Lovely.
Hey! I found out I was conceived in the parking lot of the abandoned school there before it was knocked down. Always was drawn to it but was always drawn to UE so it’s not like anything too weird. Live super close to it now which is kind of weird.
The whole city of Niagara Falls ought to be declared a disaster zone. Shit, can't even get a decent pizza in this town anymore. Although you can get your ass blown off just walking down a street which was once a family oriented neighborhood.
I live not too far from here, and I've heard of this disaster before, many times. It's so sad to know what company greed and selfishness can lead to. From what I understand, Black Creek Village still exists on what used to be part of Love Canal. People to this day are experiencing negative health effects from living there. Another thing I'd like to add, is that my grandparents live in North Tonawanda, around an area where they now know some of the chemicals from Love Canal were moved to. My mom and her siblings used to play in the woods behind their house, which they called "the dumps," because it was used as a landfill. They made mentions of seeing colored water and puddles of sludge. I think they were lucky though, because overall they never had any extremely detrimental health effects. The same can't be said for some of their neighbors. Only recently were those woods gated off.
Which woods were those? I've lived in NT most of my life. I've seen fenced off woods become roadways, parks, and neighborhoods. One day you see people in haxmat suits and the next going you know, houses are being built. We had not only Durez, but the Paper Mill, Lumber Mill, Steel Plant, and Grinding wheel all polluting and dumping. My Grandma always had the most beautiful veggie garden. Still talks about it. Just curious if we are talking about the same area of NT.
Childhood until third grade was at 355 73rd Street Niagara Falls. Moved in 1964. My father was a Chevrolet Tonawanda (at the time) machinist. Perhaps my pancreatic cancer followed me from there over all those years. Thank God for Stanford surgery. Even back then the poor downtown was in disrepair after many of the businesses moved to the new retail area by the tower at the falls. And Hooker stunk up the entire region.
Would love (and be terrified) to have EPA come to Rochester (Greece) NY and dig up the massive Kodak landfill on Ridgeway Ave and Latona. It was a mess in the 70s but we'd go sledding nearby. Now it's all green grass, but fenced in and with security- never to be tested. The amount of folks who moved to Greece NY in late 40s and early 50s who then began to die in droves of various forms of cancer in the 80s and 90s is horrendous! The "stuff" still spewing out of the two remaining smoke stacks has always made us wonder what was there. Entire neighborhoods of the elderly that I grew up with in the 70s and 80s, died from brain cancers, lung cancers, skin cancers, women with uterine cancers. Does the tremendous amount of kids who grew up in that area with Silent Gen grandparents, and Boomer parents (now Gen X with Gen Z kids) who have autism, ADHD, behavioral issues and so many health issues - come from Kodak? If anything ever does get told, I'm certain it won't be until the 2070s or later. Kodak is worth next to nothing now.
I had no idea about any of this until I moved to Niagara Falls 10 years ago. I live just a 4 minute drive from the site and every time I get a chill thinking of how many lies coved it up for so long. They claim it's safe now but we are now past the expiration date on the clay barrier with no plans to do anything until it's an emergency again. Nothing should ever be done with that area.
@@AcesAdventures1 Sure it does. Hooker wasn't doing anything illegal at the time it was done. Hooker wasn't doing anything other companies and municipalities for that matter weren't doing back then either. Looking back using hindsight it's obvious what they did was wrong, but you can't judge actions of the past using hindsight. The city of Niagara Falls is 100% completely and totally at fault here. That land, like Aero Dr and Transit Rd, should have never been developed on.
There’s a new PBS documentary about Love Canal. I learned about it in EP Environmental Science a few years back and this place is one that has always interested me. The new documentary is AWESOME because it has so many of the residents on it and how they talk about this place and what they went through. No one should even be allowed to live near this place but, because corporations and states are greedy, people are being allowed to live in some parts within rings 3 and 4. These residents are saying the EXACT same thing as they did in the 70s. I like this video, I was wondering what it looked like now.
I watched that. It was really good. Very informative. My wife and I drove by there last weekend. It was so creepy. I can't believe people still live around there. I live about 5 miles from there
Don't remember any mention about the local school board's part. I wonder how many on that school board had financial connections to building the school and homes.
Yes, that is the real story. How many on the school board gained financially from selling the land to developers. Right or wrong, Hooker got nailed because they had the money and everyone loves to hate corporations. Meanwhile the school board got away with it because it would expose too many high powered connections and no one wants to perceive a school board to be evil. As usual, the people get caught in the middle.
I remember riding my bicycle in that area ( it's not too far from the mall we used to hang out at ) and I saw a sign in a ditch saying " danger, keep out " and I thought: why , are there sharks ? I had no idea
WOW Yes indeed I have lived here in Niagara Falls All my Life I Remember When This happened My Aunt Uncle and Three Cousins Lived in the Love Canal My Cousin Bedroom was in the Basement He Suffered Horrific Headaches as a Child and Still till this Day. The Soil is Bad there that Waste is still in the Ground Today. Sadly some people still Live here today. My Family marched in that Rally
I grew up a short distance away from Love Canal and had many friends who lived there. As a teen we used to go through the vacant houses it was blocks of abandoned houses.
NO The school board forced the sale of the land they were going to use eminent domain to take the land. When hook first tried deeding the land it said no school could be built. Th Board refused that and were going to just take it. So it was sold for $1 and said what was there. The Board then sole of land to developers and never spoke of the dumping.
Hooker knew what they'd done. Niagara Falls and the school district are responsible for putting hundreds at risk for what? How many are still alive suffering the after effects? While Superfund made inroads into cleaning up the land, I agree with the commenter. This land is best left undisturbed. Could meddling with the genie bottle possibly contaminate the adjacent river and put not only the falls but the fresh water lakes at risk?
I have been to every single location in this video. I grew up on 79th street in Niagara Falls then moved to Florida in 2010. Lots of memories of parties and shenanigans out there.
OXYChem announced last month that it was closing it's last Niagara Falls facility. It's the last remnant of the presence of Hooker Chemical, which, as a company, practically destroyed the City of NF. Im hoping that the City of NF and State of NY continue to pursue justice for the people of this city.
@@KellySandra716 it’s not good news for the community. Oxy was currently releasing nothing harmful into the atmosphere . Now that it’s closed the city is going to be digging up some nasty shit
Love Canal is a huge part of the dissertation I'm completing this year - there's a bit more to the story about how Hooker Chemical was FORCED to sell the land to the Niagara Falls City School District... it's a Hooker Chemical's back was to the wall with the NFCSD.
I don't have any sympathy for Hooker Chemical and I don't understand how/why people overlook that they were STILL DUMPING SHIT ILLEGALLY. They should have been held accountable because it was reckless. Funny how those who cry about the "good 'ol days", skip right over stuff like Love Canal, as if things were really better back then. They don't seem that way, judging from historical newsreels.
The site was sold for $1 because the Niagara Falls City School District threatened to take the property through eminent domain from Hooker Chemical. Hooker knew selling for a $1 would reduce their legal liability, and warned the Niagara Falls City School District (NFCSD) never to build a structure on the site (in the deed of sale and published in the Niagara Falls Gazette). NFCSD ignored the warning, hired Canon Architects (now CanonDesign) to handle the site planning and design of the 99th Street School. During the site planning and earth moving, they unearthed a number of drums drums. Canon warned not to build on the site. The NFCSD moved the building 85 feet north. And, it wasn't just Hooker that used the site for dumping - so did the Army, the Defense department, and the City of Niagara Falls. And they capped the site in the 1950s - if the clay cap hadn't been disturbed by the school construction, the water and sewer lines, the roads and sidewalks built through the neighborhood, it might not have been as massive of an environmental disaster as it was. It's a complicated story, and in the 1950s, that how the Army, Defense department, the City of Niagara Falls, and Hooker Chemical dealt with their industrial waste. The modern American environmental movement didn't start until the very late 1960s. It's a sad, complicated story that has physically scarred that section of Niagara Falls and neighboring Williams Road retail strip in Wheatfield township permanently.
I have relatives that lived one block over from the love canal. We would go over to visit them, and watch the clean up crews walking around in bunny suits and breathing apparatus.
I grew up in Tonawanda NY.My cousins lived there.We spent a lot of time there.my brother in law drove for Hooker Chemical.Hell, I grew up playing around Squaw Island.That has a place on that list. The Niagara River was the best place to go tubing.All those shiny chemical films and rainbows on the surface of the water were so cool, how could they be bad for you.?
Just finished watching i never even heard about this thanks for sharing with us appreciate it. I actually just finished that movie about the Dupont plant starring Mark Ruffalo it's messed me up knowing it's based on a true story i have been watching other videos about it to gain some more knowledge. Dupont is so evil! Movie is called "Dark Waters" if anyone has not heard or watched it yet.
My dad worked at Hooker/Oxy for 45 years and a couple years after retirement he got diagnosed with Binswagers disease. We lived on 98th street until the mid 80s and we used to play all over that area.
@@AcesAdventures1 Binswagers is a type of dementia, hes as healthy as can be for 78 but has no mind what's so ever. My mom has had cancer twice but we lived on the other side of the creek so who knows if that has anything to do with it
I remember hearing about this place when I was a kid. Now i am in my late 40s. Its so sad that companies would do this just to save a few bucks. How awful. Its interesting to know what its like today. Storing the chemicals in clay is just a temporary solution. Someday when we have the technology it needs to be removed.
The American side is realer, at least. It’s not just a front. Niagara Falls, NY is dangerous city that happens to have some pretty cool waterfalls, not a tourist trap.
Back in the day we used to park on old house foundations there, cut off headlights and smoke crazy bud. Used to take girls back there to chill too.... Ahhhhh the good ol days. Anybody remember the mushroom house? That was a local "treasure " and a shame they tore it down
As it stands now, it is still a chemical dump. It was never cleaned up properly & there is a new class action lawsuit in affect... I have lived here for 30 years now & as they resell these homes, they never tell the new owners what they are living on!
Resident of the falls here. This place is so crappy. There is a daily smell that emanates when entering downtown via the bridge. Some times it smells like sulfur, other times sewerage. The tourist area is beautiful but not even a quarter mile away there is nothing but poverty and abandoned houses. The mall has stores closing left and right. This city is a literal dead end and has nothing going for it. I am in the process of relocating after being trapped here for over a decade. Rent is cheap but I wouldn't recommend this city to anyone.
You’re talking about Niagara Falls?
@@i_am_gohan9232 Yup. The American side.
It’s not even beautiful, you’re talking about one of the world’s wonders and one of the best natural water views in the world. The tourist area lacks a lot of entertainment places and events. Look up the Canadian NF side and see the difference
@thesmokingroom5731 one time recently there was supposed to be fireworks in the falls that was canceled due to a fire on the Canadian side and it was either on or near a historic street, on the American side there is litteraly a dumpster disposal site on the side of a mountain, there is a lot of crime around 22nd street on the American side and rent is cheap because of the daily crime, I relocated after summer 2019 because of the crime and bad stuff around NF American Side, the city peaked in the 50's which was around 70 years ago and I am not kidding when I said it peaked in the 50's because it had 1 Million people 2023 NF in comparison has 48 Thousand people
Back in 1950 NF was rivaling Detroit and now NF is the laughing stock of WNY.
NF has litteraly Fell off.
@@iloveboo64 Here’s another fact for you. That “mountain” is made of garbage.
I was born & raised in Love Canal.
My family moved away by the time I was 13, but the damage was already done.
I have been sick my entire life but the doctors "don't know why".
Mainly my bowels have always had issues but drs relate it to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which also translates to "we don't know what it is".
Bowels affect the entire rest of bodily health.
I have had life-long heart problems and even early onset osteoporosis and arthritis.
I was conceived while my parents lived in Griffin Manor housing complex (used to be located right inside the fenced-in area) and also born while there with moving when I was 3 to a few blocks over (91st). But attended elementary school from K-6 at 93rd St School, now torn down and made into a baseball park.
☮️ to you
You need to lawyer up. You deserve compensation and medical care paid for, damn I’m so sorry to hear this. My own dad was overseas in Germany in the army, and his team were in the fields and inhaled gasses that were used without their knowing.
I am truly sorry.
@@i_am_gohan9232
I did. About ten years ago when there was a civil suit brought (I don't know if I'm saying it right... When lawyers call out for anyone who may be affected by something and then they go to court representing the whole group).
Anyway, last week I got a final notice that they are dropping the case. The State judge sent it to federal court and they kicked it back to State. And the judge decided that the love canal issue is old and the company did pay damages already (a long time ago when I was too young to do anything about it).
My suspicion is that the judge was bought off by the company.
Anyway.... Nothing can be done.
Same here in Missouri kids born from Times Beach have been sick as adults without explanation. I was conceived at Times Beach and have stomach issues myself
Nearly twenty years ago, my wife (then girlfriend) and I lived in a house in North Tonawanda, as I was temporarily working at nearby General Motors. While I wasn't a fan of the state of New York, we fell in love with the people there. I don't know if I've ever been in an area of the United States that had a seeming more corrupt government. The people of New York deserve better.
But the people have to vote out the corruption...
@Mel C. In essence what I said... Lol
I was a little kid living in North Tonawanda when this was happening. (for those who don't know, North Tonawanda is about 5-6 mi southeast of Love Canal)
Love Canal may be the big mess that brought attention to the issue, but the entire Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro is lousy with toxic waste sites. That's where electricity was first being generated on industrial scales over 100 years ago, long before environmental regulation was a thing. The early part of the 20th century was a toxic free-for-all. Buffalo was a major industrial center then, some thought it could grow bigger than NYC.
I remember where I lived, in the woods behind my house, where all the kids played. Rusty , half buried 55 gallon drums, 'rainbow puddles', and all sorts of different color things coming up from the ground.
I was 5, it was all 'fun'. I had no clue.
Good thing I moved away a year later. "The news" was just a dumb tv show for grownups back then, so, I didn't know what was going on, but I bet it might have had an influence on my mom's decision to leave Buffalo.
She is very concerned about environmental things, always has been.
WE ALL DONT VOTE THIS IN!!!! us #716
@@peterbelanger4094 You likely lived near my grandparents!!
Thank you for posting this. My mom grew up on 102nd street. I learned about a lot of these things as a child, watching her suffer the consequences of this disaster. My step mom also grew up on 101st street. As a child she told me about how all of the kids would play in the black puddles. How the kids went to their friend's houses to check the sump pumps and basements for black slime. The kids didn't know what it was, the parents were busy and hoping their investments buying a home wasn't turning into a nightmare. The result of them settling to pay off people is disgusting. My mom was paid two settlements for a few thousand dollars, and told not to talk about it any more. Her legs grew incorrectly and she spent her middle school years in a wheelchair. Now in her 50s, she's had both knees and both hips replaced.
It's a tragedy but it only betrays a sad fact. The people who are in charge of large decisions are no more competent than most people. It's so easy for someone to just take money and turn their back on an obvious problem. We need to always stop and say, the politicians who lie for a career, and their hand-selected cronies, do not have our best interests in mind.
I would love to see a video like this on the Lake Ontario Ordinance Works and how the military sold the majority of Youngstown to a school district when it was land filled with toxic chemicals.
It was Lewiston, not Youngstown. The entire Lewport school campus is built there
@@margomargo7999 Yes, you are right. I went to the school and my daughter does now too. I always confuse the towns around Lew-Port. The Town of Porter is confusing in general.
It's only going to get worse with the dirtbags in DC passing a bill to spend the country into total destruction. And Brandon's most pathetic lie EVER: It won't cost anything! What the hell is he smoking?!
@@largol33t1 He quit smoking a long time ago, now he just sniffs kids to bring back the memories. We don't need to worry about the trillions of dollars it will cost, his son is going to sell a couple masterworks and pay the debt off himself.
Fellow lew-port grad here. We also had that radioactive water tower behind the school. And a whole lot more. Lake Ontario ordinance works could use more coverage. That was all Manhattan project and WWII secret stuff.
I live in Niagara Falls, and I remember the story of a young girl who fell into a sink hole in Love Canal while she was playing outside and when they pulled her out, her legs were caked with black sludge. Her skin was burned from the chemicals. It affected me even as an 8 year old... such a crime against humanity and unforgivable.
awful
I grew up in Buffalo before the EPA was created in 1970. (LOVE CANAL was a few minutes north) anything went before that, dump crap anywhere, the soot from the smokestacks covered your homes and cars. today Niagara falls Canada is a Canadian Vegas, The American side is a ghetto with nothing. New York cant organize a lemonade stand. by the way there are radioactive dump sites up there too.
Unbelievably Sad !
My dad was employed by Otis Elevator out of Buffalo, and was sent to do some repair/ install work at Hooker Chemical. He later developed prostate cancer. Mom was convinced that this was the result of being exposed to dioxins at Hooker. The Rust Belt is riddled with toxic sites like Love Canal. Growing up in Buffalo, so many of my relatives have died of cancer or related complications.
My aunt used to live on 91st. Street. I have walked around the love canal many times and even explored the abandoned school...but that was in the 90's...way before TH-cam
I live on 85th st… they tore down the school and put a bunch of baseball diamonds on top of it and there’s only a couple houses left in the area
they had camcorders back then. find the footage and upload it. Unless that is - you didn’t think of preserving your experience. in that case, you were a slacker!!!
@@davidjames666 yo do realize camcorders cost a pretty penny back then and every body didnt have the means to buy one. even if you had one at home parents would not allow the kids to take with them to places like this.
@@ToomasTelling not in the 90’s. one can have a camcorder for $299. much less than people spend on a phone today - even adjusted for inflation
I currently live on 91st Street
I'm old enough to remember this story being on TV news and it always bothered me that Hooker Chemical was getting all the blame and not the local government who decided to build on the site. Thanks for presenting a balanced commentary on who was responsible
None of this was Hooker Chemicals fault. Sure they lied to cover their asses from liability but what they were doing was completely legal back when they did it. And Hooker Chemical isn't the only company in WNY who had a dump site with hazardous material in the area.
@@sirmang9032If it wasn't their fault, they wouldn't have had any reason to lie.
I live in Niagara Falls N.Y and developers have built apartment buildings RIGHT ACROSS the street from love canal dumping spot . You can look at the tree's and see that they aren't doing well .
Went through the abandoned houses back in the mid 90s. Almost all of those houses are gone now. Also, they built new houses, saying it was "safe", nearby. Can't believe anyone would buy there...
they are now digging up 4th street at Porter and building. i live in the apartment's there. this whole area is toxic.
@@KellySandra716 that area won't be safe for generations, regardless of what the "experts" say.
I wouldn’t buy because it’s called Love Canal. Outside of the two street inner ring the area is safe.
@@Amanda_1985 I visited Niagara falls back in the early 2000's and it was a drug filled shit-hole back then. I can only imagine how it is now.
"They" ( the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency) put the big push on to resettle Love Canal.
12 years/ $250 million+++ .
1990: The All Clear was given.
All the sick and dying people.
The dogs that would root around in the dirt, your lawn, just the ground in general, would sometimes be dead three hours later.
The grass clumps, pieces of your lawn with a little soil attached. ( Sod)
Take that small clump and smash it on the pavement.
Watch it explode.
My bus takes me through Niagara Falls twice per day. One memory I will always have was on the first day of high school, I looked out the bus window and saw a man with a gun walking down the street. My grandpa lived here in the 40s and 50s. He tells me stories of how beautiful and vibrant the city was. It makes me sad how it’s gone down the drain. Homeless people everywhere.
It's been 40 and a half years since the state bought our house on 102nd Street (I dream about the move several times a month) and we evacuated. No health problems at all yet but what already run in my family, so nothing attributable to the canal. No malignancies. Very thankful for my health.
Greed is almost always at the center of most shameful stories in this country. If we aren’t careful It will be our downfall. Great video Ace, I can’t wait to see more.
Woah, you ok Ron?
@@ronrossmore211 Somebody's got some hostility issues...
The USA is all about greed 100%, They have literally priced themselves out of the world market because of it but wanna cry it's China's or anyone but their own fault. Greed will be why the USA collapses it's just a matter of time.
if you think greed is not human naturethat fine, it is; if you think is capitalism, than you are an idiot.
You can't see that this country is almost at the bottom of the downfall in hell already?
Late '70's I was sitting at a bar in Rochester NY talking with a man who had arrived to address the Love Canal issue. He gave me my intro to the tragedy. Having participated in the 1st Earth Day I was in complete shock. Then a dry cleaner in our downtown was identified as a brown field and the rest is history. One right after another identified. Thanks for the exposure/reminder. Stay united.
One thing I did not hear you mention, the city of Niagara Falls threatened to eminent domain the canal from hooker before they “sold” it to them. The city itself has a role in all this and they willingly sold the land for development knowing that those chemicals were there.
Even worse was it was very clearly stated when it was sold that it could not be built on. The state screwed this up.
Hooker: This is dangerous, toxic land that sould never be built on. Moronic School District: What an awesome place for a school and The Toxic Avenger can be its mascot!
Anthony I absolutely love this angle ftom you. Great job as always. Reminds me of Times Beach Missouri and Picher Oklahoma two super fund sites.
I lived a short distance from there on River road. I had 2 young lab mix dogs get out of the yard once. I found them a week later in love canal area. Neither of these dogs lived past 5 years old, both died of aggressive cancers.
Thank you for this posting.
I remember this story, as a kid. Back in the 70s, I had relatives that lived in Niagara Falls, Ontario & how terrified they were of this horrible disaster!
My mom used to work at roswell park during the time this was a big issue; they'd liquify soil samples from love canal and inject it into lab mice and track the results. Most mice wound up with boils, fur falling off, and bodily deformities like a crooked neck.
Wow
POOR INNOCENT ANIMALS THIS IS DISGUSTING 💔😪
@@saltressX couldn't agree more!!
Fantastic work, I had no idea about this event. Thanks for making such a detailed and interesting video on the subject.
Ty!
I live in Chattanooga TN, and there’s an area near me that used to be the Hercules Powder Company/ Volunteer Army Ammunition Co. they made TNT and explosives raw materials there from WW2 until the late 70’s. And I can assure you that the abandoned portions of it has seen it’s fair share of toxic ooze coming up from the ground after a rain storm. The non abandoned section of it is now a walking trail and you can walk into some of the old storage bunkers used to keep explosives after manufacture.
True quality WNY content. This is what TH-cam was built for!
Also
Go Bills
...except how hard is it to take multiple takes so hes not forever tripping over his words through the video?
Go patriots from WNY myself lol
@The Huff f uck the NFL and there overpaid actors
You forgot to mention that one of the founders of Hooker Chemical is Al Gore Sr. I used to live in Niagara Falls CA, and learned a lot about chemical dumping in Ontario. Studied Love Canal and when I got to TN found "Hooker Tailings ponds" and looked up history to find Al Gore Sr was founder. The Tailings ponds are advertised as great for fishing.
The environmental guy
That's BS, Gore Sr. grew up on a farm in Tennessee and worked his way through collage teaching. After graduating he work on a failed political campaign of Congressman Gordon Browning running for Governor. Successful in his second run for governor, Browning named Gore commissioner of labor in 1937. In 1938 Gore won election to represent the Fourth Tennessee District in the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding Congressman Ridley Mitchell. Thus began thirty-two years of public service representing Tennessee in the House (1939-53) and the U.S. Senate (1953-71). In 1970 Republican William Brock III defeated Gore for the U.S. Senate In 1971 Gore lectured at Vanderbilt University and was a Fellow at Harvard University. He devoted his energies to writing and to the practice of law before becoming chairman of the board of Island Creek Coal Company and director and executive vice-president of Occidental Petroleum Corporation from September 1972 through August 1983. He continued on the Occidental Petroleum board of directors until 1998.
To summarize almost everything you said is wrong and if you spent five minutes doing research you would have avoided making a fool of yourself.
Thank you Anthony for this video - this isn't like your usual vids - you show emotion and anger at all the decisions made and didn't hold back. As someone who doesn't live too far from the Niagara area and finds its history fascinating, I appreciate this video and hope you do more like it someday, hopefully on happier topics.
Ty!
I've been following you ever since seeing that stranger things mall video but for some reason your videos don't show up on my feed. I just came to watch this one. You are one talented documentary maker! I thoroughly enjoyed this even though I'm not from the US. I'm gonna go binge your videos now!
Nice job.on.this it's definitely diffrent from your usual malls video wich I love them also
Trying to mix it up a tad
Excellent work Anthony on a very dark chapter of New York, would love to see you visit what is left of Centralia, PA.
i did a video already go check it out :)
Excellent video. Thanks.
I'm from downtown Niagara Falls NY and let me tell you its been a slum and full of corrupt politics for at least 30years, most of the homes people live in out there are old and need repairs unless you own it and can afford to fix it, and all the abandoned houses sitting around Falls street and the casino area is just disgusting and they're willingly leaving it this way.
I live about 40 minutes from Ottawa, Illinois. My father grew up in Ottawa. Ottawa is another place that received Super Funds for clean up because of Radium Dial. The book Radium Girls by Kate Moore is very good!!
Wow, this gave me chills. I live about a quarter mile from the site on 86th street and this has got me thinking about why so many people in this area to this day are still getting sick.
Great mini documentary, It's reinvigorated my interest into the disaster.
same here,87th street, this area is still in use there are baseball fields close to this and people walk their dogs still here, and elderly facility too
in at 4th and porter
I have a relative on 98th. "Oh look, the fence"
Cancers are high with dioxin. I'd have the soil tested where you live.
There's a new class action going on because the chemicals have spread and reached over to 76th if I remember correctly
My aunt and uncle were among the few who refused to leave. I remember driving to their house as a little girl in the late 80’s and being curious about (and a little scared of) all the abandoned homes, schools and churches around them.
Did your aunt &uncle have any health problems from it, it must of been a hassle to live there. I mean I wouldn't even want to take shower or use the tap water for cooking or even washing my dishes
A lot of the stuff they dug up is reburied in the fenced-in mound near Griffon Park on River Road. And, they had begun digging near Wilson, NY at the same time as the original canal was going to be put in. There's as much waste buried along Lake Ontario as was in Niagara Falls. Not many people know that. Thanks for putting this in the spotlight again. Stay safe and healthy out there! Thank you for sharing a part of your day with us!
I attended school in Wilson, NY. I had no idea!
Excellent summary, Anthony. Thank you.
The Summer of 1980 we went to Niagara Falls from Massachusetts and were in a campground near Love Canal. Though we had seen it on the News we had no idea how close we were. That night we went to get food and beer, ending up in Love Canal area. It was close by. There were no barriers and we freely drove thru this area. I think we saw 2 homes with lights on. It was like this place was frozen in time, no people but everything remained. I remember those type of signs in peoples yards like you showed in this vid. So sad, it was a nice looking area
Niagara falls even still to this day is riddled with hazardous waste from globe oxy chemical company / hooker even the city itself has been caught dumping sewage into Niagara falls every other year they issue an ordinance for residents to boil tap water. Our city should be so lucrative and updated it is truly sad that it hasn't gotten any better.
I really enjoyed this video. You did a great job Ace 👍
Ty!
Great documentary Anthony! I can tell you put a lot of work and research into it.
ty!
Very well put together. I used to live in WNY grand island to be exact. This story was just utter......yeah proof on the corrupt city of Niagara Falls that still to this day exists. Sad.
I also lived on Grand Island in the 70s and my husband was a chemist at Hooker.
This was a really good video, and interesting timing as it was only a few weeks ago that I was listening to my usual podcasts and came across an episode on love canal. I had never heard of it before but what a sad tale. I would be tempted to think that there was more corruption now at the highest levels than ever before, but the story proves that corruption has always been around.
What podcast? I’m interested in listening to abandoned towns and places.
I appreciate your time and effort put into this video. It's very well put together and very informative. THANKYOU!
I remember this happening. I was little, but... yike. Nothing should ever have been built there.
Nope
Thank you so much for exposing my city for what it really is. It'd be awesome if you could also do a video on the dump here as well. It's gotten outta hand the past few years. The entire city smells like something died. Thanks again! Much love 🙏🏼
I, sumwhat recently moved here from Detroit about six years ago...but THATS the first thing i noticed...The HORRIBLE SMELL and honestly why its even zoned there in the first place is really wierd...
Let's be fair. The city was proposing eminent domain to take over the property, and it was their decision to first build a school, disregarding warnings about the actually dump site and allowing it to be breached. And then selling more of the land to be subdivided for housing, too close to the canal.
I'm not saying Hooker should be absolved of blame - they dumped the toxic waste, creating what would still have been an environmental disaster requiring cleanup, since its contents were inevitably heading for the Niagara river, but there were a lot of very poor, stupid decisions made after they relinquished the property to the city.
Yes. It was the governments fault for breaching the cap on dump site. Hooker laid a clay liner which at the time was state of the art. Then they placed the drums of waste in there and followed up by a clay cap. This was my recollections. My friends dad owned a pharmacy there and had to close it down.
@@jamesdellaneve9005 And did they (Hooker) tell the gov't or the school what was at the location? From this report it sounds like, nope, didn't say a peep.
@@kataratify Sorry but it’s been awhile. Yes, it was in the deed transfer that they were not to build on the land. Did they detail what was in there? I have no idea. I am sure that you can find the document since it’s a public record.
@@kataratify They probably didn't know. When the toxic waste was dumped, it was in the 40's, and nobody knew the dangers with dioxins, or a lot of other things. It was just gorp from industrial processes. And Hooker didn't want to sell, but they were threatened with eminent domain. A lot of the chemical waste problems are with the people who get paid to dispose of it (like Times Beach). Or it would pile up on the site. A lot of the remote sites eventually got reached as populations exploded. The procedures were followed when the waste was disposed of, but they weren't adequate.
Normally I tend to agree with government over companies but in this case, the government was at fault from everything I've researched. I don't like chemical dumps but the issue wasn't Hooker's fault in my opinion.
Great video!!! You should do more of these
Will be sprinkled in, in 2022
A lot of the problems were caused by the developer. They were told not to put basements in. But they did anyway, and broke the clay cap. They should also go after them.
I was living in California at the time but I vividly remember all the news coverage about Love Canal, the protests and lack of responsibility taken by Hooker Chemical. Now I live a 20 minute drive from Niagara Falls. I hope that those families that relocated back then are still alive and healthy, especially the children.
I hope you do not live near the LOOW Dumping Site in nearby Youngstown/Porter NY - this is worse that the Love Canal??
@@patentexperts1675 No I live closer to Buffalo in Amherst NY.
@@lynnessewimperfect825 So you're somewhat close to the dump site that was on Aero and Transit instead!
Worked at Love Canal during the 90's rehabbing over 200 homes where people had to move out of on the north side of the Canal. The north side now has over 200 families living there and is deemed habitable while the south side has been completely torn down other than a couple of hold outs. I think the south side is now commercial use only.
This is why regulations on corporations is needed
I remember taking my wife and kids there because my daughter was doing a report on Love Canal. I grew up in NT. Kids were creeped out seeing the techs at the time walking around in their hazmat suits. The skull and crossbones ☠️ on parts of the fence didn’t help. She was a little surprised to see that I didn’t live too far from the area.
My elementary school built a playground on a chemical dumping ground and recently tore it down. We'll probably develop some major health issues in the future. Lovely.
Hey! I found out I was conceived in the parking lot of the abandoned school there before it was knocked down. Always was drawn to it but was always drawn to UE so it’s not like anything too weird. Live super close to it now which is kind of weird.
The whole city of Niagara Falls ought to be declared a disaster zone. Shit, can't even get a decent pizza in this town anymore. Although you can get your ass blown off just walking down a street which was once a family oriented neighborhood.
goodfellas is pretty good lol
George's Pizza is pretty good. Ventry Pizza is fuckin gross tho no cap.
Mr Ventrys 🍕❤️❤️❤️
I live not too far from here, and I've heard of this disaster before, many times. It's so sad to know what company greed and selfishness can lead to. From what I understand, Black Creek Village still exists on what used to be part of Love Canal. People to this day are experiencing negative health effects from living there. Another thing I'd like to add, is that my grandparents live in North Tonawanda, around an area where they now know some of the chemicals from Love Canal were moved to. My mom and her siblings used to play in the woods behind their house, which they called "the dumps," because it was used as a landfill. They made mentions of seeing colored water and puddles of sludge. I think they were lucky though, because overall they never had any extremely detrimental health effects. The same can't be said for some of their neighbors. Only recently were those woods gated off.
Which woods were those? I've lived in NT most of my life. I've seen fenced off woods become roadways, parks, and neighborhoods. One day you see people in haxmat suits and the next going you know, houses are being built. We had not only Durez, but the Paper Mill, Lumber Mill, Steel Plant, and Grinding wheel all polluting and dumping. My Grandma always had the most beautiful veggie garden. Still talks about it. Just curious if we are talking about the same area of NT.
@@MorganaWitchy15 It's a little bit northwest of the Wurlitzer building where Platter's is
@@Hypersonic250 I figured it was over there somewhere. Wurlitzer Park is where my grandparents live. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.
Childhood until third grade was at 355 73rd Street Niagara Falls. Moved in 1964. My father was a Chevrolet Tonawanda (at the time) machinist. Perhaps my pancreatic cancer followed me from there over all those years. Thank God for Stanford surgery. Even back then the poor downtown was in disrepair after many of the businesses moved to the new retail area by the tower at the falls. And Hooker stunk up the entire region.
Would love (and be terrified) to have EPA come to Rochester (Greece) NY and dig up the massive Kodak landfill on Ridgeway Ave and Latona. It was a mess in the 70s but we'd go sledding nearby. Now it's all green grass, but fenced in and with security- never to be tested.
The amount of folks who moved to Greece NY in late 40s and early 50s who then began to die in droves of various forms of cancer in the 80s and 90s is horrendous! The "stuff" still spewing out of the two remaining smoke stacks has always made us wonder what was there.
Entire neighborhoods of the elderly that I grew up with in the 70s and 80s, died from brain cancers, lung cancers, skin cancers, women with uterine cancers.
Does the tremendous amount of kids who grew up in that area with Silent Gen grandparents, and Boomer parents (now Gen X with Gen Z kids) who have autism, ADHD, behavioral issues and so many health issues - come from Kodak?
If anything ever does get told, I'm certain it won't be until the 2070s or later. Kodak is worth next to nothing now.
I had no idea about any of this until I moved to Niagara Falls 10 years ago. I live just a 4 minute drive from the site and every time I get a chill thinking of how many lies coved it up for so long. They claim it's safe now but we are now past the expiration date on the clay barrier with no plans to do anything until it's an emergency again. Nothing should ever be done with that area.
We're living through a similar situation on a global scale. Think mandated vaccines for the common cold.
They should recap it and put solar over it. I can’t imagine Cayuga island isn’t completely contaminated
@@michaelchauvin7219 trump supporter?
@@chefkid100 Using your logic, this person is a Trump supporter
th-cam.com/video/-dAjCeMuXR0/w-d-xo.html
Hooker Chemical told the City of Niagara Falls, including in writing NOT to build on the land and they went a head and did it anyway.
Still doesn’t get them off the hook imo
@@AcesAdventures1 Sure it does. Hooker wasn't doing anything illegal at the time it was done. Hooker wasn't doing anything other companies and municipalities for that matter weren't doing back then either. Looking back using hindsight it's obvious what they did was wrong, but you can't judge actions of the past using hindsight. The city of Niagara Falls is 100% completely and totally at fault here. That land, like Aero Dr and Transit Rd, should have never been developed on.
Coul you do a video on Time's Beach, Missouri? Many similarities between that tragedy and Love Canal.
Development of Lambert sparing the population from more contamination is also an interesting story.
There’s a new PBS documentary about Love Canal. I learned about it in EP Environmental Science a few years back and this place is one that has always interested me. The new documentary is AWESOME because it has so many of the residents on it and how they talk about this place and what they went through. No one should even be allowed to live near this place but, because corporations and states are greedy, people are being allowed to live in some parts within rings 3 and 4. These residents are saying the EXACT same thing as they did in the 70s. I like this video, I was wondering what it looked like now.
I watched that. It was really good. Very informative. My wife and I drove by there last weekend. It was so creepy. I can't believe people still live around there. I live about 5 miles from there
I just visited Niagara Falls, NY and I did not know of this at all. There's so much abandoned near the falls itself.
Don't remember any mention about the local school board's part. I wonder how many on that school board had financial connections to building the school and homes.
Yes, that is the real story. How many on the school board gained financially from selling the land to developers. Right or wrong, Hooker got nailed because they had the money and everyone loves to hate corporations. Meanwhile the school board got away with it because it would expose too many high powered connections and no one wants to perceive a school board to be evil. As usual, the people get caught in the middle.
I remember riding my bicycle in that area ( it's not too far from the mall we used to hang out at ) and I saw a sign in a ditch saying " danger, keep out " and I thought: why , are there sharks ? I had no idea
Great video! I love these stories and love following your adventures! New Sub here!
WOW Yes indeed I have lived here in Niagara Falls All my Life I Remember When This happened My Aunt Uncle and Three Cousins Lived in the Love Canal My Cousin Bedroom was in the Basement He Suffered Horrific Headaches as a Child and Still till this Day.
The Soil is Bad there that Waste is still in the Ground Today. Sadly some people still Live here today.
My Family marched in that Rally
My husband grew up on LaSalle ave. He tells me all about it, as he's a native of the Falls and I'm from Colorado.
I grew up a short distance away from Love Canal and had many friends who lived there. As a teen we used to go through the vacant houses it was blocks of abandoned houses.
And down the street that LaSalle mall will look like this soon...
All the stores there closed
Summit park, yep. I taught my son to drive in that area since it was abandoned....and he was an awful driver lol
NO The school board forced the sale of the land they were going to use eminent domain to take the land. When hook first tried deeding the land it said no school could be built. Th Board refused that and were going to just take it. So it was sold for $1 and said what was there. The Board then sole of land to developers and never spoke of the dumping.
Hooker knew what they'd done. Niagara Falls and the school district are responsible for putting hundreds at risk for what? How many are still alive suffering the after effects?
While Superfund made inroads into cleaning up the land, I agree with the commenter. This land is best left undisturbed. Could meddling with the genie bottle possibly contaminate the adjacent river and put not only the falls but the fresh water lakes at risk?
I have been to every single location in this video. I grew up on 79th street in Niagara Falls then moved to Florida in 2010. Lots of memories of parties and shenanigans out there.
Same! Buff Ave or NF Blvd side?
OXYChem announced last month that it was closing it's last Niagara Falls facility. It's the last remnant of the presence of Hooker Chemical, which, as a company, practically destroyed the City of NF. Im hoping that the City of NF and State of NY continue to pursue justice for the people of this city.
this is good news for our communities healthy but not for our economy... sigh
I grew up there. I remember the smell of all the plants of Buffalo Ave.
@@KellySandra716 it’s not good news for the community. Oxy was currently releasing nothing harmful into the atmosphere . Now that it’s closed the city is going to be digging up some nasty shit
The city are the idiots that went and dug into the ground after hooker told them not to
The land where oxychem currently is, is going to be a disaster to clean up.
Love Canal is a huge part of the dissertation I'm completing this year - there's a bit more to the story about how Hooker Chemical was FORCED to sell the land to the Niagara Falls City School District... it's a Hooker Chemical's back was to the wall with the NFCSD.
Interesting
They got it for a dollar, didn’t they?
Agreed. There was a lot going on then and now that people don't know about.
I don't have any sympathy for Hooker Chemical and I don't understand how/why people overlook that they were STILL DUMPING SHIT ILLEGALLY. They should have been held accountable because it was reckless.
Funny how those who cry about the "good 'ol days", skip right over stuff like Love Canal, as if things were really better back then. They don't seem that way, judging from historical newsreels.
The site was sold for $1 because the Niagara Falls City School District threatened to take the property through eminent domain from Hooker Chemical. Hooker knew selling for a $1 would reduce their legal liability, and warned the Niagara Falls City School District (NFCSD) never to build a structure on the site (in the deed of sale and published in the Niagara Falls Gazette). NFCSD ignored the warning, hired Canon Architects (now CanonDesign) to handle the site planning and design of the 99th Street School. During the site planning and earth moving, they unearthed a number of drums drums. Canon warned not to build on the site. The NFCSD moved the building 85 feet north. And, it wasn't just Hooker that used the site for dumping - so did the Army, the Defense department, and the City of Niagara Falls. And they capped the site in the 1950s - if the clay cap hadn't been disturbed by the school construction, the water and sewer lines, the roads and sidewalks built through the neighborhood, it might not have been as massive of an environmental disaster as it was. It's a complicated story, and in the 1950s, that how the Army, Defense department, the City of Niagara Falls, and Hooker Chemical dealt with their industrial waste. The modern American environmental movement didn't start until the very late 1960s. It's a sad, complicated story that has physically scarred that section of Niagara Falls and neighboring Williams Road retail strip in Wheatfield township permanently.
I have relatives that lived one block over from the love canal. We would go over to visit them,
and watch the clean up crews walking around in bunny suits and breathing apparatus.
I grew up in Tonawanda NY.My cousins lived there.We spent a lot of time there.my brother in law drove for Hooker Chemical.Hell, I grew up playing around Squaw Island.That has a place on that list. The Niagara River was the best place to go tubing.All those shiny chemical films and rainbows on the surface of the water were so cool, how could they be bad for you.?
Right next to and including some of my town to the east.
Just finished watching i never even heard about this thanks for sharing with us appreciate it. I actually just finished that movie about the Dupont plant starring Mark Ruffalo it's messed me up knowing it's based on a true story i have been watching other videos about it to gain some more knowledge. Dupont is so evil! Movie is called "Dark Waters" if anyone has not heard or watched it yet.
my family lived in love canal back in the day, remember hearing the stories of tomatoes being the size of watermelon
wow!
I lived in an apartment bldg called Eleanor apts it was on 8th St right at the corner of Pine Ave.
There is a ghost town or two in eastern NY as well. If you need a wing man I'll fly into Albany.
As a teenager it's so interesting hearing the horrors that have happened in your own city
Wow another way people let money cloud their judgment great video Anthony
Well put together video, i live in niagara falls.
I wonder if I could buy some property in “Love Canal”. Sounds like a great place to put a landfill. Oh wait….
My dad worked at Hooker/Oxy for 45 years and a couple years after retirement he got diagnosed with Binswagers disease. We lived on 98th street until the mid 80s and we used to play all over that area.
That’s insane, hope your dad is ok
@@AcesAdventures1 Binswagers is a type of dementia, hes as healthy as can be for 78 but has no mind what's so ever. My mom has had cancer twice but we lived on the other side of the creek so who knows if that has anything to do with it
I really like how you put a Walmart cart in the thumbnail
Had to tie it in somehow lol
@@AcesAdventures1 I see...
Big money always talks and gets their way. Sad regular people pay for it.
sure is....
"Toxic town" Ace: "this is fine."
Would you mind if I mirrored this my theme we are abandoned 💝💙💜💘💘💓💓💙
I'm a travel nurse working in Niagara Falls now and I couldn't believe what a dump it is.
I remember hearing about this place when I was a kid. Now i am in my late 40s. Its so sad that companies would do this just to save a few bucks. How awful. Its interesting to know what its like today. Storing the chemicals in clay is just a temporary solution. Someday when we have the technology it needs to be removed.
You hear about this guy "Jeff Bezos" yet?
I visited Niagara Falls and wondered why the US side looked like a sh!t hole. It’s embarrassing, Canadian Side is so much nicer. It’s a crying shame.
So true
The American side is realer, at least. It’s not just a front. Niagara Falls, NY is dangerous city that happens to have some pretty cool waterfalls, not a tourist trap.
What a great great job!!!
🐞 Wow! I lived in Griffin Manor as a child, I went to 99th Street School, LaSalle Jr. and LaSalle Sr. This is sad🤔
Wow Anthony! You've got balls. I would not even go near that place. You toured it with a camera.
You'd never see a chemical company do an interview like this today.
Great video Anthony
Back in the day we used to park on old house foundations there, cut off headlights and smoke crazy bud. Used to take girls back there to chill too.... Ahhhhh the good ol days. Anybody remember the mushroom house? That was a local "treasure " and a shame they tore it down
Mushroom house?
@@EasyCheesyChodes yeah, just an abandoned house but all the windows and doors were in shape of mushrooms
Very cool documentary. Would love to go take scroll there next time in Ny falls. I am guessing you have to drive there. 🇨🇦🇨🇦
As it stands now, it is still a chemical dump. It was never cleaned up properly & there is a new class action lawsuit in affect... I have lived here for 30 years now & as they resell these homes, they never tell the new owners what they are living on!