LOVE CANAL
NIAGARA FALLS, NY
Cleanup Activities
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On this page:
- Background
- What Has Been Done to Clean Up the Site?
- What Is the Current Site Status?
- Activity and Use Limitations
On related pages:
Background
The Love Canal Site is located in Niagara Falls, New York and was one of two places where digging was done for a never-built canal meant to provide inexpensive hydroelectric power around the turn of the 20th century. With the rise of alternating current, the excavation was abandoned, partially filled with water, and used recreationally.
Subsequently, between 1942 and 1953, the Hooker Electrochemical Company (now Occidental Chemical Corporation, or OXY) used the abandoned Love Canal to dispose over 21,000 tons of hazardous chemicals. The drums leaked and contaminated soil and groundwater.
The drums were buried in a makeshift 16-acre landfill, which was covered with soil in 1953 and leased to the Niagara Falls Board of Education. Afterward, an elementary school and many homes were built near the covered landfill.
Work to address contamination at the fenced 70-acre site included addressing leaking drums in the original 16-acre hazardous waste landfill, installing a 40-acre polyethylene cover over contaminated material, installing a system to collect contaminated liquids or leachate, and installing a treatment system to treat leachate. The systems that are in place and still operating today.
Complaints about odors and residues were first reported at the Love Canal site in the 1960s.
These reports increased in the 1970s as the water level rose and brought contaminated groundwater to the surface. Several federal and New York State studies showed that numerous toxic chemicals, including dioxin, had flowed through existing sewers and drained into nearby creeks. In late 1977, in response to complaints from residents of homes adjacent to the Love Canal landfill, EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) began investigating the groundwater at the site, the indoor air, as well as the sump water contamination in nearby homes.
Following reports of contamination, President Jimmy Carter issued an emergency declaration in 1978, which provided federal funding for cleanup work (before the CERCLA law was passed) to contain the chemical wastes at the Love Canal site and to assist New York State in relocating residents who lived nearby. Cleanup work began shortly thereafter.
President Carter established the Love Canal Emergency Declaration Area (EDA) when he issued a second emergency declaration in 1980.
The EDA covers about 350-acres of the neighborhood around the landfill. The second declaration authorized $20 million of federal funds (with matching New York State funds) to help affected residents purchase new homes. The EDA contained seven areas surrounding the landfill that were evaluated to determine whether they were habitable.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) bought property, disbursed funds, and relocated hundreds of affected families. New York State formed a Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA) to work with FEMA in this massive effort. As a result, all but two nearby families were evacuated. Evacuated homes were demolished in 1982. The demolition waste was placed under the Love Canal landfill cap, a barrier between the contaminated material and the surface.
FEMA evacuated about 950 of the more than 1,050 families from a 10 square-block area surrounding the Love Canal landfill. Some families within the EDA elected to not move out and were permitted to remain.
The severity of the site’s contamination led to the creation of federal legislation to manage the disposal of hazardous wastes throughout the country. This legislation was titled the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980. It is commonly referred to as the Superfund law.
EPA officially placed the site on the Superfund program’s first ever National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983.
Amendments to the Superfund law, i.e., the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), were enacted in 1986. These amendments mandated that EPA manage property acquisitions and livability investigations associated with the Love Canal EDA.
EPA issued the Love Canal Emergency Declaration Area Habitability Study in 1988, which included results of thorough sampling inside of the EDA compared to areas both within and near Niagara Falls. EPA conducted this five-year study to evaluate whether the residential areas within the EDA were suitable for habitation. Comparing levels of contamination found in areas near the Love Canal landfill with comparison areas, the New York State Department of Health concluded that some areas of the EDA were not suitable for living in without cleanup but could be used for commercial or industrial purposes. Other areas were judged livable and could be used for residential purposes.
RE-Habitability Study
Because the contamination at the Love Canal site was significant, the cleanup actions and livability decisions were addressed in several stages. The first stage focused on landfill containment and collecting contaminated water, then treatment and disposal. The second stage focused on contaminated material that was excavated, as well as the treated sewer and creek sediment and other wastes. The third stage was focused on the 93rd Street School contaminated soil that was cleaned up. The final stage managed the purchase, maintenance and restoration of residential and commercial properties.
EPA and NYSDEC completed the cleanup work in 1999. As a result of all cleanup actions, the site no longer presents a threat to people’s health and the environment.
EPA removed the site from the Superfund program’s National Priorities List in September 2004. New homeowners moved into the livable areas of the Love Canal site as part of the efforts of the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency. More than 260 formerly abandoned homes in the affected area were rehabilitated and sold to new residents, creating a viable new neighborhood.
What Has Been Done to Clean Up the Site?
Initial Actions: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) installed a system to collect contaminated liquids from the Love Canal landfill in 1978. EPA and NYSDEC covered and fenced the landfill area and built a contaminated liquids treatment plant. EPA installed a fence around Black Creek in 1981 and conducted environmental studies.
Landfill Containment: EPA installed a system to contain and collect contaminated liquid and capped the area with a synthetic material to prevent rain from coming into contact with contaminated material. Contaminated houses and the school were demolished.
After extensive study, NYSDEC installed the 40-acre cap in 1985 and improved the contaminated liquid collection and treatment system, including constructing a new contaminated liquids treatment facility.
Sewers, Creeks and Berms: In 1985, NYSDEC and its contractors cleaned up nearby sewers and creeks and removed and disposed of contaminated sediment. In addition, NYSDEC and its contractors inspected the sewers for defects that could allow contaminants to spread beyond the site. NYSDEC cleaned out 62,000 linear feet of storm and sanitary sewers in 1986 and an additional 6,000 feet in 1987.
NYSDEC and its contractors dredged and cleaned culverts and drains along the Black Creek and removed about 14,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from Black Creek and Bergholtz Creek. They placed a permanent layer of stone in the creek beds to protect soil against erosion. The banks were replanted with grass.
Thermal Treatment of Sewers and Creeks Sediment: NYSDEC’s contractor processed the sediment at a staging area near the 93rd St. School. NYSDEC built an on-site facility to remove water from the contaminated sediment, and then stabilized, bagged, and transported that sediment to OXY’s Niagara Falls Main Plant. OXY temporarily stored the sediment at the plant before it was thermally treated and disposed at facilities outside of New York State. Contaminated material from the sewers was also bagged and transported to the Niagara Falls Main Plant.
EPA made some important adjustments to its cleanup plans, including changes in 1989 to allow sediment to be treated at OXY facilities rather than at the site. EPA also updated its cleanup plan in 1996 to allow off-site EPA-approved thermal treatment and land disposal of stored Love Canal waste materials. EPA’s third and final cleanup update in 1998 allowed some materials to be landfilled instead of incinerated. The last shipment of sewer and creek sediment and other waste materials off-site for final disposal was in March 2000.
93rd Street School: In 1988, EPA oversaw the cleanup for the 93rd Street School property, which included excavating and solidifying approximately 7,500 cubic yards of contaminated soil next to the school. This was done by mixing additives to the material, such as concrete to the soil to chemically-bind contaminants in the soil.
EPA amended the plan for the school to in 1991 to include off-site disposal of the solidified contaminated soil. EPA completed this cleanup action in September 1992. The Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA) later purchased the 93rd Street School property. Afterward, LCARA demolished the 93rd Street School building in order to return the land to its best use. The area now contains community ball fields.
Emergency Declaration Area (EDA) Home Maintenance: As a result of the contamination, the federal government and New York State purchased and either destroyed or rehabilitated affected properties in the EDA.
The Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency coordinated the New York State agency maintenance, rehabilitation and selling of affected properties. The Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency used EPA funds to maintain affected properties in the EDA and for technical assistance during cleanup of the EDA.
The restoration and sale of these homes has been completed. About 260 homes were sold since the restoration program began. In addition, the City of Niagara Falls built a senior citizen housing development on vacant livable property in the EDA.
EDA Property Acquisition: EPA awarded $2.5 million to the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency to purchase properties not previously permitted, including businesses, rental properties, and vacant lots.
What Is the Current Site Status?
All cleanup actions are complete.
Glenn Springs Holdings, Inc. (Glenn Springs or the Occidental Chemical Corporation) and its contractor, GHD, currently manage the site’s ongoing operation, maintenance and monitoring (OM&M) activities. These activities include the continued OM&M activities of the Love Canal Treatment Facility (LCTF), inspecting the landfill cap, and inspecting the many groundwater monitoring wells.
Glenn Springs produces annual Site Management Periodic Review Reports (SMPR) that describe in detail the above-identified OM&M activities. The annual reports also provide information on the various maintenance, process and non-process activities that occur each year.
“Process” activities include cleaning building tanks and the clarifier, removing and disposing hazardous waste from the treatment process, and maintaining and replacing equipment. “Non-process” activities include preventative maintenance, installing wells, repairing the landfill cap, and maintaining the building and landscaping.
As part of the regular operations, monitoring, and maintenance activities, frequent visual inspections are made of the barrier drain collection system, including barrier drain manholes and the landfill cap.
The barrier drain system contains and directs all groundwater within the system to ensure that the direction of groundwater flow is toward the water wells within the collection system. This collection system pumps the groundwater to the Love Canal Treatment Facility.
The last inspection of the manholes showed that they are functioning properly. Inspection of the landfill cap indicates that there has been no disturbance to its integrity. The well collection system is also inspected. The most recent inspection found it to be operating properly. Over the years, EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) annual assessment of the site containment actions reveals that all systems are operating as designed.
EPA performs a review of the Love Canal cleanup every five years. As part of the five-year review process, technical representatives from EPA, NYSDEC and the New York State Department of Health conduct an overall site inspection.
The inspection covers all Love Canal Treatment Facility operations and includes an inspection of the nearby Emergency Declaration Area (EDA) neighborhood. The inspection is designed to ensure that all parts of the site’s containment cleanup systems are continually monitored. These systems include the barrier and well collection system, the barrier drain system itself, and the wet well collection system. Also included is the 102nd Street force main which carries contaminated liquids from the 102nd Street Landfill site to the Love Canal Treatment Facility for treatment.
Each five-year review has shown that the implemented cleanups continue to protect people’s health and the environment. The next five-year review will be performed in 2024.
In addition, the operations, monitoring, and maintenance activities continue to ensure there are no human or environmental exposures to site-related hazardous materials.
Activity and Use Limitations
At this site, activity and use limitations that EPA calls institutional controls are in place. Institutional controls play an important role in site remedies because they reduce exposure to contamination by limiting land or resource use. They also guide human behavior. For instance, zoning restrictions prevent land uses – such as residential uses – that are not consistent with the level of cleanup.
For more background, see Institutional Controls.
Activity and use limitations that EPA calls institutional controls are in place at this site.
Institutional controls play an important role in site cleanups because they reduce exposure to contamination by limiting land or resource use. They also guide people’s behavior. For instance, zoning restrictions prevent land uses – such as residential uses – that are not consistent with the level of cleanup.
The Niagara Falls Board of Education and the City of Niagara Falls own the property within the containment and fenced area of the site. Niagara Falls granted New York State a permanent right to use and access the site property. This gave New York State exclusive use and occupancy of the Love Canal site.
New York State, pursuant to a 1994 Consent Decree, granted the Occidental Chemical Corporation (OXY) exclusive use and occupancy of the site. This was to allow OXY to continue operations, monitoring, and maintenance (OM&M) activities for the Love Canal site cleanup. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) performs regular oversight of OXY’s OM&M activities and reports on these oversight activities to EPA. These cleanup and monitoring duties are now carried out by Glenn Springs and GHD.
The vacant properties located in the Emergency Declaration Areas (EDA) one through three remain limited to commercial and/or industrial use only. Institutional controls are maintained by deed notices for these properties and the zoning restrictions on the areas.
The deeds require that identified use limitations, such as commercial and/or industrial use only limitations, “shall run with the land.” This means that limitations on property use must be passed on with the land whenever the land is sold to a new owner. The deeds bind the current owner and any successors until NYSDEC determines that such institutional controls are no longer necessary to protect people’s health and the environment.
If any use other than what is specified above is considered for these properties, a minimum of six inches of surface soil must be removed and a minimum of six inches of new clean soil must be placed back on the property before any such use can be initiated.
These properties are owned by various entities, including the City of Niagara Falls and other parties. Before any redevelopment in this area, EPA and NYSDEC must be notified about any proposed use. The properties located in Emergency Declaration Areas four through seven remain suitable for normal residential use without any restrictions.