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Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 2

2.0 LOVE CANAL ......................................................................................................................... 3

2.1 History of Love Canal ........................................................................................................... 3

2.2 Demographic Data............................................................................................................. 4

2.3 Epidemiologic Investigation.............................................................................................. 4

2.5 Environmental Cleanup ..................................................................................................... 6

3.0 SILENT SPRING...................................................................................................................... 8

3.1 Documented Cases ................................................................................................................ 8

4.0 URAVAN ............................................................................................................................... 12

4.1 History................................................................................................................................. 12

4.2 Environmental Concerns ................................................................................................. 13

4.3 Site Remediation .............................................................................................................. 13

4.4 Cleanup Exercise................................................................................................................. 14

4.41 Cleanup remedies include.............................................................................................. 14

4.5 Goals Achieved ................................................................................................................... 15

5.0 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 15

6.0 Reference ................................................................................................................................ 16

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1.0 INTRODUCTIONThe impacts of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only have human dimensions, but

environmental ones as well. Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster,

and vice versa, disasters have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest management

practices, agriculture systems etc. can exacerbate the negative environmental impacts of a storm

or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting and ground/surface water contamination.

Disasters in our natural world originate from mainly environmental catastrophes, earthquakes,

volcanic eruptions and extremes of weather, because they are the causes of the costliest and

deadliest events throughout history. They are also the least predictable among the many kinds of

disasters, so there are good reasons to study them and to continue the search for answers to their

predictability. Human tragedies, or events that frequently involve human choices, must also be

included in the study of disasters, since they, unlike the environmental disasters, will continue to

increase in the future in both frequency of occurrence and extent of damage. It is of great

importance that disasters are fully understood, so as to ascertain the preservation of our global

environment.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and droughts are familiar events, which

we feel we have little control over. All we think we can do is minimize damage to people and

property. Human induced disasters, however, appear to be fundamentally different. They are

regarded as the results of human error or malicious intent and whatever happens when they occur

leaves us with the feeling that we can prevent a recurrence. In fact, the difference between these

two types of disasters is not at all crystal clear. More and more we find that human activity is

affecting our natural environment to such an extent that we often have to reassess the causes of

so-called natural disasters, recognizing that preventable human error might have contributed to

some of the damage. Take, for example, the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The

firestorm that swept over the city immediately after the quake, causing far more damage than the

direct impact of the earthquake, could have been minimized had alternatives to the city’s water

mains been in place.

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2.0 LOVE CANAL

2.1 History of Love Canal

The Love Canal neighborhood is in the southeast section of the La Salle area of Niagara Falls,

New York. William T. Love, an 1890s visionary and entrepreneur, sought to develop a planned

industrial community, Model City, in the area. Waters from the Niagara River were to be routed

around the Niagara escarpment (the other famous attraction of the region, Niagara Falls) to

produce cheap hydroelectric power.

Model City never happened, but work on the canal to transport waters from the Niagara River

did. In 1942, Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation (now Occidental Chemical) purchased

the site of the Love Canal. Between 1942 and 1953 Hooker Chemical disposed of about 22,000

tons of mixed chemical wastes into the Love Canal.

Shortly after Hooker ceased use of the site, the land was sold to the Niagara Falls School Board

for a price of $1.00. In 1955, the 99th Street Elementary School was constructed on the Love

Canal property and opened its doors to students. Subsequent development of the area would see

hundreds of families take up residence in the suburban, blue-collar neighborhood of the Love

Canal.

Unusually heavy rain and snow falls in 1975 and 1976 provided high ground-water levels in the

Love Canal area. Portions of the Hooker landfill subsided, 55-gallon drums surfaced, ponds and

other surface water area became contaminated, basements began to ooze an oily residue, and

noxious chemical odors permeated the area. Physical evidence of chemical corrosion of sump

pumps and infiltration of basement cinder-block walls was apparent. Subsequent studies by the

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry would reveal a laundry list of 418 chemical

records for air, water, and soil samples in and around the Love Canal area.

In April of 1978 the New York Department of Health Commissioner, Robert Whalen, declared

Love Canal a threat to human health and ordered the fencing of the area near the actual old

landfill site.

In August, the Health Commissioner declared a health emergency at the Love Canal, closed the

99th Street School, and recommended temporary evacuation of pregnant women and young

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children from the first two rings of houses around the site. Within a week, Governor Hugh Carey

announced the intended purchase of all "Ring 1" houses (later expanded to 238 houses in Rings 1

and 2). President Jimmy Carter simultaneously announced the allocation of federal funds and

ordered the Federal Disaster Assistance Agency to assist the City of Niagara Falls to remedy the

Love Canal site.

2.2 Demographic Data

The Love Canal is a rectangular, 16-acre, below-ground-level landfill located in the

southeast corner of the City of Niagara Falls, Niagara County, about one-quarter mile

from the Niagara River.

In 1970, the population of Niagara Falls was 85,615.

Manufacturing, particularly of chemical and allied products, is the major industrial

enterprise of the county and city. According to 1970 data of the New York State

Department of Commerce, nine major chemical-producing companies employing a total

of 5,267 people were then located in the county.

The Love Canal landfill is bordered on two sides by single family homes with a public

elementary school separating the northern and southern sections of the landfill.

In July, 1978, in the homes immediately adjacent to the landfill there were resident 97

families composed of 230 adults and 134 children. During the 1977-78 school year, 410

students were enrolled at the school.

At this writing, scientific analyses have identified 82 different chemical compounds at the

landfill, of which one is a known human carcinogen and 11 are known or presumed

animal carcinogens.

2.3 Epidemiologic Investigation

At the direction of Dr. Robert P. Whalen, State Health Commissioner, the Health Department's

Bureau of Occupational Safety and Chronic Disease Research dispatched teams of investigators

to the Love Canal area on June 19, 1978 to begin a house-to-house health survey of the 97

families living immediately adjacent to the landfill. A 29-page questionnaire, seeking

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information on present and past health status, family, social, occupational and residential history,

was developed for use by health department interviewers.

Based on preliminary analysis of data collected from these families, the survey was expanded to

include all residents living within a four block radius of the landfill site. As of August 20, 1978

medical investigators had spent 13,000 man-hours interviewing residents and had obtained

detailed health histories from all persons residing in 250 houses in the Love Canal area.

To contact persons who once lived on the Love Canal but subsequently moved to other areas, a

nation-wide toll-free hotline was established on August 14 and publicized in major news media

outlets throughout the country. During the first four days of the hotline's existence 256 calls were

received from people now living in 30 different states, 100 of whom identified themselves as

prior Love Canal residents.

In addition, with the assistance of technical staff from Roswell Park Memorial Institute (the

Health Department's cancer research and treatment center in Buffalo), blood samples were drawn

from more than 2,800 persons living in the Niagara County area. Due to public interest and

concern, additional blood sampling clinics were scheduled for various locations throughout

Niagara County to assure that samples were obtained from all persons with past associations with

the Love Canal who wished to be tested.

The ultimate goal of the Health Department's long-range epidemiologic investigation is to obtain

a detailed health profile of all persons who presently or ever lived near the Love Canal landfill to

determine whether these individuals are at higher risk for acute and/or chronic health disorders.

2.4 HUMAN TOXICITY OF CHEMICALS: To date, more than 80 chemical compounds

have been identified in the landfill by the Health Department's Division of Laboratories and

Research and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Eleven of these are known or

suspected of causing cancerous growth in laboratory animals, and one - benzene - is a well-

established human carcinogen.

Following is a list of some of the more important chemicals identified at the Love Canal site and

the human biologic hazards associated with them.

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Compound Acute Effects Chronic Effects

benzene NarcosisSkin irritant

Acute leukemiaAplastic anemiaPancytopeniaChronic lymphatic leukemiaLymphomas (probable)

toluene Narcosis (more powerfulthan benzene)

Anemia (possible)Leukopenia (possible)

benzoic acid Skin irritant

lindane ConvulsionsHigh white cell counts

trichloroethylene Central nervous depressionSkin irritantLiver damage

Paralysis of fingersRespiratory and cardiac arrestVisual defectsDeafness

dibromoethane Skin irritant

benzaldehydes Allergen

methylene chloride Anesthesia (increased carboxy hemoglobin) Respiratory distressDeath

carbon tetrachloride NarcosisHepatitisRenal damage

Liver tumors (possible)

chloroform Central nervous narcosisSkin irritantRespiratory irritantGastrointestinal symptoms

2.5 Environmental Cleanup

Following issuance of Health Commissioner Whalen's August 2, 1978 order, the Department of

Environmental Conservation (DEC) assumed overall responsibility for reviewing remedial

engineering plans at the Love Canal.

Specifically, DEC would:

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Provide onsite supervision of construction activity at the Love Canal site;

Assist the Niagara County Board of Health in its mandate to abate the public health

nuisance at the site;

Consult with the Niagara County Health Department, the State Department of Health and

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a long-range engineering

solution;

Review the cleanup actions proposed by the county in the consultant report by

Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, which proposed the construction of a tile drainage

system in the southern section of the Love Canal site; DEC also must give final approval

to the detailed design and engineering plans;

Review and approve plans to minimize hazardous exposure during construction;

Conduct additional studies, in cooperation with the State and County Health Departments

and the City of Niagara Falls, to define the boundaries of the Love Canal landfill; to

measure, through continued air, water and soil sampling, the extent to which

contaminated waters have moved away from the site; to determine the extent of

groundwater aquifer contamination; and to determine the effectiveness of the proposed

drainage system to contain and remove the contaminated groundwater from the site.

2.6 Soils and Groundwater

A cross-section of soils at the site has shown that the top 4 to 6 feet of soil is moderately

permeable; beneath that is 30 to 40 feet of highly impermeable clay; and 40 feet below the

surface is limestone bedrock. The pollutants move easily through the top layer of soil, which has

allowed the contamination to infiltrate the basements. Although the pollutants probably don't

move in the lower tight clay soils, the pollutants may be leaking to the bedrock, which contains a

supply of groundwater.

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3.0 SILENT SPRINGThis is a book that was first published in the United States in 1962, Silent Spring surveys

mounting evidence that widespread pesticide use endangers both wildlife and humans. The

Writer, Rachel Carson criticizes an irresponsible chemical industry, which continues to claim

that pesticides are safe, and imprudent public officials, who accept without question this

disinformation. As an alternative to the "scorched earth" logic underlying accepted pest control

practices, the she outlines the "biotic" approach; cheaper, safer, longer acting, natural solutions to

pest problems (for example, controlling the Japanese beetle by introducing a fungus that causes a

fatal disease in this insect).1

Carson was inspired by a friend to write this book. The friend about dying birds in her hometown

where the authorities had sprayed DDT to control mosquitoes. At about the same time, a

disastrous pesticide campaign against the fire ant of the Southeast was receiving national

attention. Since she was a former a science writer for the United States Fish and Wildlife

Service, Carson already had some acquaintance with research on pesticides, and she was ready to

speak out. Originally planned as an article, Silent Spring became a book of more than two

hundred pages when the only outlet she could find was the book publisher Houghton Mifflin.

3.1 Documented CasesIn the first chapter of the book, Carson describes a beautiful American town where residents,

farmers and wildlife live in harmony with each other. Farms and orchards are interspersed with

maple, birch, and pine trees along with foxes and deer live and romp in the misty woods. The

roadsides were lush with trees, ferns, and wildflowers and birds numerous, both in types and in

quantity. In the winter, tourist would gather to observe the numerous migrating birds. Trout is

plentiful in the streams, which have been good fishing spots since early settler times. Then a

mysterious blight strikes the area, and wildlife and farm animals die. People become ill, thus

caused doctors to be puzzled. The birds disappear along with other wildlife and farm animals.

Bees vanished, and the reality was that there were no fruits in the orchard, since there were no

bees to pollinate plants and trees. The vegetation died, thus making the availability of food

nonexistent.

1 http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-silentspring/intro.html

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The town in the first chapter was acknowledged by Carson as being an imaginary one, but lest

the tale be dismissed as mere fantasy, she hastens to add that each of the catastrophes it cataloged

‘‘has actually happened somewhere, and many real communities have already suffered a

substantial number of them.’’2

In the second chapter of her book, Carson related that throughout earth's history, living things

have interacted with their environment but not changed it. In fact, the environment has often

played an important role in forming the different kinds of life, mainly plants and animals that

specifically adapt themselves to live in whatever their environments are.

Human beings therefore have gained the ability to reverse the roles and actually change the

environment they live in, and this power has become disturbingly great only over the past 70

years. Now humanity has irreversibly polluted the earth's air, water, and animal life (including

human life). The combination of radiation (released through nuclear explosions) and toxic

chemicals (purposely distributed as insecticides, herbicides, etc.) produces chemical deposits in

the earth, water, and living tissues of everything on earth.

The source of the ills described in chapter one, included potent synthetic poisons of relatively

recent design, proliferating at the rate of about five hundred a year, applied in massive quantities

virtually everywhere, with disastrous short and long term consequences for both wildlife and

humans. To convey the grave danger that these substances represent, she introduces an analogy

that will resurface over and over in Silent Spring: “pesticides are like atomic radiation-invisible,

with deadly effects that often manifest themselves only after a long delay.”

In chapter three a small handful of qualities that make the new pesticides so much more

dangerous than their predecessors were identified.

These qualities include:

greater potency

slower decomposition and

a tendency to concentrate in fatty tissue.

2 http://www.enotes.com/silent-spring

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Carson clarifies the significance of the last two characteristics by pointing out that a toxin that

might not constitute a danger in small doses will ultimately do so if it accumulates in the body,

and also that substances with this propensity concentrate as one moves up the food chain.

Every human being now has contact with dangerous chemicals every moment of his life, even

from conception. These chemicals have made their way deep into the groundwater; they stay in

the soil to which they are applied, remaining detectable even 12 years later; they collect in the

fatty tissues of wild and domestic animals. Animals are so widely affected that scientists have a

hard time finding uncontaminated animals to serve as controls in experiments.

In chapters four, five, and six a triptych is formed that stresses the highly interconnectedness of

life in three biological systems - plant systems and those centered in water or soil. Given its

fluidity and interconnectedness, water is an extremely difficult place to contain a problem,

Carson points out. As an unintended result of runoff from agricultural spraying and of poisons

sometimes directly introduced in the water supply, groundwater nearly everywhere is tainted

with one or more potent toxins. The full extent of the problem, she worries, cannot even be

precisely measured because methods for screening the new chemicals have yet to be routinized.

In some instances, the danger lies in substances formed by unexpected reactions that take place

between individual contaminants; in such cases, toxins might escape detection even where tests

are available.

Chapter five explains the life cycle within soil-based ecosystems: rich soil gives rise to hearty

plant life; then the natural process of death and decay breaks down the plants, and the soil's

vitality is restored. Pesticides threaten this fundamental dynamic, fundamental not just for plants

but also for the higher organisms that live on plants. An insecticide applied to control a particular

crop-damaging insect depletes the microbial life within the soil that facilitates the essential

enrichment cycle, hence the millions of pounds of chemical fertilizer required each year by

factory-farms.

In chapter six, Carson's focus shifts from insecticides to herbicides. The general picture that

emerges is of a deceptive chemical industry and ill-informed public authorities spending large

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sums of taxpayers' money undermining whole ecosystems to eradicate one or two nuisance

species.3

In chapter seven, called "Needless Havoc,'' Carson's attention turns to the people behind

pesticides, the public officials who are responsible for the widespread use of these dangerous

chemicals.

She lists some of the ways humans have done great damage to other life forms: the slaughter of

buffalo, the massacre of shorebirds, and the near decimation of egrets for their feathers. Now the

chemical killings join this litany of destruction. Chemical insecticides applied to the land and

water is killing every conceivable kind of creature. Birds, fish, and mammals of all sizes are

dying, along with the targeted insects. Citizens must discern for themselves who is telling the

truth: the wildlife biologists and forestry experts who decry the mass killing of so much life or

the chemical-wielding entomologists who overlook the terrible flaws in their programs of blanket

spraying. Carson encourages her readers to examine the evidence for themselves. Wildlife is

unlikely to bounce back after sprayings that kill large numbers of birds, bees and animals.

In chapter fifteen titled “Nature Fights Back”, Carson said that despite our efforts to control

insect populations by mass application of new chemicals, the insects keep coming back. Insects

are genetically adapting to the chemicals we use, they are becoming resistant, but even worse

than that, our chemical attacks on insects have weakened entire ecosystems, so that the natural

enemies of the targeted insects are destroyed, along with the targets. This creates an ideal

environment for the unwanted insects to reinfest an environment where their unfettered

reproduction will not be challenged. Humans have been ignoring the powerful forces at work in

the balance of nature and arrogantly asserting their dominance, which actually shifts the balance

against them. Humans have overlooked two critical facts: first, nature provides the best ways to

control insects; and second, a chemically weakened environment opens itself for greater

infestation from insects.

In the final chapter of the book, chapter seventeen titled “The Other Road” she opined that in our

use of ever-increasing levels of dangerous chemicals in our environment, we have been

travelling a road that seems easy but will end in disaster. The other road of this chapter's title is

3http://www.enotes.com/silent-spring

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the path of non-chemical control of unwanted insects and plants. Only by this "other road," the

"one 'less travelled by,"' can we ensure our planet's survival. It is up to us to assert our right not

to be poisoned.

A huge variety of alternatives to the dangerous chemicals used ineffectively against insects is

available. Whether they are already in use or in laboratory development or exist so far only in the

imaginations of scientists, they are biological solutions based on the whole of nature and its

intricate network of so many different kinds of life.

4.0 URAVAN

4.1 History

The Uravan facility is located along the San Miguel River in Montrose County, Colorado,

southwest of Grand Junction on State Highway 141. The site is characterized by an arid climate,

sparse vegetation, and rugged topography.

The 680-acre Uravan Uranium Site began as a radium-recovery plant in 1912. Its owners

converted it for vanadium extraction. From the 1940s to 1984, the plant operated as a uranium

and vanadium processing facility.

Operations at the 680-acre Site left a large volume of wastes, contaminating air, soil and ground

water near the plant and the San Miguel River.

Contaminants included radioactive products such as raffinates, raffinate crystals and mill tailings

containing uranium and radium. Other chemicals in the tailings and ground water were heavy

metals, such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and vanadium.

EPA added the Site to its National Priorities List in 1986. The State of Colorado is the lead

agency for the cleanup.

Cleanup for much of the Site is complete, with final construction completion expected in the late

fall of 2007. Following cleanup completion, the Site will be deleted from the National Priorities

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List (NL) and transferred to the Depatment of Energy for long-term management. Two historic

structures -- a recreation hall and boarding house -- were deleted from the NPL and them

demolished in 2007. Demolition debris from the two structures and underlying contaminated

soils will be consolidated in an on-Site repository by October 2007.

Since waste is left in place, Five-Year Reviews will be required to ensure that the remedy

remains protective of human health and the environment. The most recent review was completed

in September, 2005. The next review will be conducted by 2010.

4.2 Environmental Concerns

4.21 Chemicals

A complex mixture of chemicals exists at the site. The contaminants include radioactive products

including raffinates (liquid wastes from the uranium processing operations), raffinate crystals

(primarily ammonium sulfate compounds), and mill tailings containing uranium and radium.

Other chemicals in the tailings and groundwater include heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium,

vanadium), thorium, and residual salts.

4.22 Exposure

At the time reclamation began, the air at the site contains elevated levels of radon gas from the

tailings piles. These materials have since been relocated and placed in covered containment

cells. Soil surrounding the mill site and groundwater contained radionuclides and heavy metals.

Because no one lives in the town of Uravan and the groundwater is not being utilized, the human

health risks are considerably limited.

4.3 Site Remediation

The State of Colorado completed a plan to cleanup the site in 1986. The cleanup plan was

designed to control radon production and the migration of heavy metals, thorium, and residual

salts from the site. Remediation included (1) securing nearly 10 million cubic yards of

radioactive tailings in a disposal area and capping/revegetating the area; (2) constructing a lined

disposal system for the radioactive crystals; (3) placing 1.5 million cubic yards of waste located

adjacent to the San Miguel River in a secure disposal area located away from the river; (4)

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placing contaminated soil in an approved on-site repository; (5) reclaiming and revegetating the

land on the site; and (6) collection and treatment of contaminated groundwater.

4.4 Cleanup Exercise

Cleanup work was performed by Umetco, with oversight from the Colorado Department of

Public Health and Environment and EPA. The site and surrounding area will be used in the

future for recreation and as wildlife habitat. A portion of the site will be transferred to the

Department of Energy for long-term management.

4.41 Cleanup remedies include:

Capping and revegetating nearly ten million cubic yards of radioactive tailings;

Disposing of 530,000 cubic yards of radioactive raffinate crystals;

Eliminating process ponds;

Pumping and treating contaminated ground water;

Securing 12 million yards of tailings waste along the San Miguel River;

Dismantling the 2 mills and placing all old building-demolition materials in a secure area;

Excavating and disposing of contaminated soil in a secure area, replanting these areas;

Dismantling and cleaning up the town of Uravan.

Wastes are being contained on the Site; pollution of the San Miguel River is under control; and

there is no longer any residential exposure to radiation.4

The lessons learned from the successful cleanup at Uravan will provide invaluable guidance for

decisions about possible future uranium development in Colorado and other parts. This cleanup

can be used as a guiding tool for future uranium cleanup exercise. With the growing body of

knowledge about uranium, improved technology and methods, and environmental protections

can lead to cleaner, safer mills with less impact on surrounding communities and the

environment.

4 http://www.epa.gov/Region8/superfund/co/uravan/

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4.5 Goals Achieved

Those involved in the cleanup of the Uravan site were able to achieve several key goals, these

include:

Wastes have been removed and safely contained

The area has been restored, and

The threat of impacts to the San Miguel River has been eliminated

In addition to those goals, a portion of the area will be dedicated as a campground and a museum

focused on the history of uranium mining in Colorado.

The cleanup effort facilitated the removal of more than 13 million cubic yards of mill tailings,

evaporation pond precipitates, water treatment sludge, contaminated soil, and debris from more

than 50 major mill structures on the site. These wastes were collected and disposed of in four on-

site disposal cells. The cells also contain wastes from a nearby abandoned mill in Gateway,

Colorado, and mill tailings from the Naturita mill site, Colorado. In addition, more than 380

million gallons of contaminated liquid collected from seepage containment and groundwater

extraction systems were treated at the mill site. The cleanup cost more than $120 million.

5.0 ConclusionOur environment should be paramount importance to safe guard from possible man-made

disaster because every living organism depends on the planet and every single one of us is

responsible for its survival. Our actions can have serious consequences as pointed out in above

disasters mentioned; the way in which we disposed of toxic chemicals and pesticides. As a

society, we must relearn our respect for nature. Furthermore, the environment should be of a

viable statute of importance that goes hand-in-hand with human rights and economic justice.

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6.0 Reference Pankratz, Thomas M.(2001). Environmental Engineering Dictionary and Directory, CRC

Press LLC, Lewis Publishers.

Pfafflin, James R. & Ziegler, Edward N. (2006). Encyclopedia of Environmental Science

and Engineering, Fifth Edition, CRC Taylor & Francis.

Corbitt, Robert A. (2004). Standard Handbook of Environmental Engineering, Second Edition, McGraw Hill Handbooks.

Porteous A. (Dr.), Recycling Resources Refuse, Longman London and New York Publish

1977. (accessed – 12/06/09)

http://classwebs.spea.indiana.edu/bakerr/v600/rachel_carson_and_silent_spring.htm,

(accessed – 12/06/09)

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/Programs/science/pesticides/REPORt.pdf,

(accessed – 12/06/09)

http://www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/investigations/love_canal/lctimbmb.htm

(accessed – 12/06/09)

http://www.lm.doe.gov/land/sites/uraniumleasing/uraniumleasing.htm

(accessed – 12/06/09)

http://wise-uranium.org/indexr.html (accessed – 12/06/09)

http://www.uravan.com/uravan/ (accessed – 12/06/09)