Forty years after my first article was published, Love Canal is still a lovely suburb floating on 20,000 tons of dioxin and other chemical and nuclear waste. A Planet Waves FM special report.
Absolutely sharing it with my fellow PCB activists here the Berkshires. We’re still fighting a travesty of a river cleanup settlement and slated mountain of a toxic waste dump- right next to the abused river, on porous soil over an aquifer and adjacent to schools and neighborhoods, agreed to by bought-out town officials in executive session after decades of GE’s bullying.
The power drunk EPA officials, corrupt courts, exhausted families, sick children, and obvious gross injustice are all so familiar.
There’s a story in progress here- perhaps if you do have fledgling journalists under your wing, it would be a perfect topic for you to guide them through cutting their teeth on.
I remember the Love Canal story as a child living in WNY. So many details in this story were unknown to me. I cried while I read it- so upsetting. What have we done by turning away from these disasters? We keep making the same mistakes and profits rule. Devastating. Thank you for returning to write this. It had to be difficult for you to relive this. Grateful 🙏
Gone are the broken hearts we saw through in dreams,
gone both dream and lie
Perfect way to end this episode, a succinct statement by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia on what became of the "Sixties" in the '70s. Nixon, LBJ, Vietnam War, so much of the mainstream lie which had dominated post-war society, gone, but so were our dreams, and our very desire to decide how our lives should proceed. Even more so as digital times descended upon us. Best wishes to you, Eric, to Luella, and to all who are still working hard to force the world to confront our toxic reality which will kill us till we dispose of it.
This interview is POWERFUL stuff. Luella Kinney, a resident of Love Canal at the time, an activist, and a woman who lost a child to the toxic monster, who actually understands the science and can't be snowed, is UNIQUE. So glad you got to talk to her, Eric. I do hope she gets to talk to Carol Van Strum soon.
Some of the things said by management's flunkies are reprehensible beyond contemplation, such as kids don't need thyroid glands. This system is deadly and perverse beyond most people's ability to even imagine.
San Francisco Bay Area people were initially dismissive of this story, Times Beach and the like as being entirely artifacts of unenlightened regions of the US. That is, till numerous stories surfaced of toxic waste dumps in Silicon Valley, affecting the drinking water, not to mention many more in LA, Sacramento,.....
Eric I thank you for this incredibly heart wrenching story and your guest who shared so much insight in addition to yours. I reside in Texas and remember my father having the nightly newscast on as usual. I was a junior in highschool during around the time this was happening. Truly too young to wrap my head around the subject and understand how horrible it was.
Your story and your guest educated me in two hours of the absolute diabolical people who run this world. It's in addition to all the other stories similar to this one.
It's amazing to me still of the cognitive dissonance that engulfs the human mind. Where people are in complete denial of the toxicity of the Love Canal area in the fact they still reside there.
The portion of the story where young man who is obviously a skilled trades person with a good brain. He has no qualms about flipping the house and letting someone else live there. Just boggles the mind.
Thanks for sharing this piece of your work freely and helping others learn the truer history of big business and the trail of victims they leave in their wake.
Thank you for this haunting look back at this complete (and on-going) disaster. While I was aware of the Love Canal story back when it first began to seep out (as it were) when I was a teenager, and followed further revelations as they came to light over the years, I had not known many of the details you presented here and greatly appreciate your sharing them. I'm wondering if you ever crossed paths with Dr. Judith Johnsrud, my "second mother," who initially became involved in anti-nuclear work when she founded the group, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, to oppose Project Ketch, the absolutely insane proposal by the then-AEC to use left-over atomic bombs to create underground chambers for natural gas storage in Central PA, an area known for its extensive limestone sink holes. The project was ultimately cancelled, the first time in American history that a citizens' group had ever successfully stopped an AEC plan. From there, she went on to becoming an expert on low level nuclear waste matters, doing decades of important work in that area. Given your shared interests, I have a feeling that somewhere along the way the two of you may well have met or communicated with each other. If not, the two of you would, I think, have definitely hit it off.
Thank you so much fr making this available to non paying subscribers...this article was fascinating and I couldn't stop reading it. But mostly I feel like I got to know you as I didn't know a thing about you other than your Substack. See, there is a higher power.
What is it in the American psyche that refuses to let us believe we could do such things to ourselves?
Thank you for this update on a long-ago and on-going tragedy. And bless Luella Kenney for her life's work, it's very hard to keep speaking up when people do not want to believe the dangers are real.
I know. I learned that a couple of days ago. It's one of those things where I don't take my fingers off the keyboard, it goes right into the story. The whole thing is so cynical, it makes "covid" easier to understand.
Amy Warner
22 mins ago
Absolutely sharing it with my fellow PCB activists here the Berkshires. We’re still fighting a travesty of a river cleanup settlement and slated mountain of a toxic waste dump- right next to the abused river, on porous soil over an aquifer and adjacent to schools and neighborhoods, agreed to by bought-out town officials in executive session after decades of GE’s bullying.
The power drunk EPA officials, corrupt courts, exhausted families, sick children, and obvious gross injustice are all so familiar.
There’s a story in progress here- perhaps if you do have fledgling journalists under your wing, it would be a perfect topic for you to guide them through cutting their teeth on.
Big love to you Eric.
I remember the Love Canal story as a child living in WNY. So many details in this story were unknown to me. I cried while I read it- so upsetting. What have we done by turning away from these disasters? We keep making the same mistakes and profits rule. Devastating. Thank you for returning to write this. It had to be difficult for you to relive this. Grateful 🙏
Gone are the days when we stopped to decide
where we should go, we just ride.
Gone are the broken hearts we saw through in dreams,
gone both dream and lie
Perfect way to end this episode, a succinct statement by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia on what became of the "Sixties" in the '70s. Nixon, LBJ, Vietnam War, so much of the mainstream lie which had dominated post-war society, gone, but so were our dreams, and our very desire to decide how our lives should proceed. Even more so as digital times descended upon us. Best wishes to you, Eric, to Luella, and to all who are still working hard to force the world to confront our toxic reality which will kill us till we dispose of it.
This interview is POWERFUL stuff. Luella Kinney, a resident of Love Canal at the time, an activist, and a woman who lost a child to the toxic monster, who actually understands the science and can't be snowed, is UNIQUE. So glad you got to talk to her, Eric. I do hope she gets to talk to Carol Van Strum soon.
Some of the things said by management's flunkies are reprehensible beyond contemplation, such as kids don't need thyroid glands. This system is deadly and perverse beyond most people's ability to even imagine.
San Francisco Bay Area people were initially dismissive of this story, Times Beach and the like as being entirely artifacts of unenlightened regions of the US. That is, till numerous stories surfaced of toxic waste dumps in Silicon Valley, affecting the drinking water, not to mention many more in LA, Sacramento,.....
Eric I thank you for this incredibly heart wrenching story and your guest who shared so much insight in addition to yours. I reside in Texas and remember my father having the nightly newscast on as usual. I was a junior in highschool during around the time this was happening. Truly too young to wrap my head around the subject and understand how horrible it was.
Your story and your guest educated me in two hours of the absolute diabolical people who run this world. It's in addition to all the other stories similar to this one.
It's amazing to me still of the cognitive dissonance that engulfs the human mind. Where people are in complete denial of the toxicity of the Love Canal area in the fact they still reside there.
The portion of the story where young man who is obviously a skilled trades person with a good brain. He has no qualms about flipping the house and letting someone else live there. Just boggles the mind.
Thanks for sharing this piece of your work freely and helping others learn the truer history of big business and the trail of victims they leave in their wake.
Eric,
Thank you for this haunting look back at this complete (and on-going) disaster. While I was aware of the Love Canal story back when it first began to seep out (as it were) when I was a teenager, and followed further revelations as they came to light over the years, I had not known many of the details you presented here and greatly appreciate your sharing them. I'm wondering if you ever crossed paths with Dr. Judith Johnsrud, my "second mother," who initially became involved in anti-nuclear work when she founded the group, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, to oppose Project Ketch, the absolutely insane proposal by the then-AEC to use left-over atomic bombs to create underground chambers for natural gas storage in Central PA, an area known for its extensive limestone sink holes. The project was ultimately cancelled, the first time in American history that a citizens' group had ever successfully stopped an AEC plan. From there, she went on to becoming an expert on low level nuclear waste matters, doing decades of important work in that area. Given your shared interests, I have a feeling that somewhere along the way the two of you may well have met or communicated with each other. If not, the two of you would, I think, have definitely hit it off.
Thank you so much fr making this available to non paying subscribers...this article was fascinating and I couldn't stop reading it. But mostly I feel like I got to know you as I didn't know a thing about you other than your Substack. See, there is a higher power.
H D H
This Substack is part of the nonprofit Chiron Return and is by donation only.
What is it in the American psyche that refuses to let us believe we could do such things to ourselves?
Thank you for this update on a long-ago and on-going tragedy. And bless Luella Kenney for her life's work, it's very hard to keep speaking up when people do not want to believe the dangers are real.
“Where Love Lives” ! Unbelievable. Thank you for all you do.
I know. I learned that a couple of days ago. It's one of those things where I don't take my fingers off the keyboard, it goes right into the story. The whole thing is so cynical, it makes "covid" easier to understand.
Well done Amazing Luella and Eric!
Where can I find a list of all the products that produce those 'side effect' poisons?
Let's go for United States of Awareness, We, the Consumers decide!
I want to stop buying things that kill, straight away, and help to avoid further toxic wastes... NOW...
Thanks for that ride back into time and back. Unforgettable. In multiple ways.
Niagara Falls is full of radiation as well. So called urban fill
Excellent article Eric!!!!