Love Canal not as bad as previously thought
I had written about the Love Canal
here before but now Reason Magazine has an excellent article on it. The Canal was abandoned and a chemical company had used it as a dump. The Reason article and some of its links give a new insight into the culpability of the company though...
The complaint was the noxious chemicals that oozed up whenever the ground was disturbed. People were saying that it was causing birth defects and cancers and finally, Jimmy Carter declared the area to be a disaster area and it became an EPA Superfund Site.
The Reason article reports on a study that followed up on the people who used to live there and found some interesting medical data:
bq. Since 1997, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has been trying to "fully measure" the allegedly "profound and devastating effects" of Love Canal by conducting a comprehensive series of follow up studies of former Love Canal residents. The NYSDOH has been able to enroll 96 percent of the former residents who had participated in earlier studies.
bq. The studies are ongoing, but preliminary results indicate that Love Canal's effects have fortunately been somewhat less than "devastating." The April 2002 NYSDOH Love Canal newsletter reports, "Based on information so far, Love Canal residents have the same life expectancy and cancer incidence rates as upstate New York and Niagara County residents. We do have enough statistical power in the overall findings to feel confident in them." To reiterate, the study found: "Canal residents are at no greater risk of death or cancer than upstate New York or Niagara County residents."
Posted by DaveH at March 30, 2004 10:18 AM