WEBVTT

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[sil.]

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Note this point. Love Canal tragically

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has become a national symbol of corporate
irresponsibility. Industrial produces

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and uses of chemicals have too often
disposed of highly toxic materials

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with the utter disregard for the danger which
these materials posed to the environment

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and to the future generations. This is
the warning. And it’s gonna catch you,

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and it’s gonna catch her, and one in a green, and the rest, and
the guy over there too. He’s gonna catch his all in the end.

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You better wake up now.

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Thirty thousand abundant toxic waste dump, so report
release today by the environmental protection agency sites

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that number of nationwide. No indication
how many might be potential love canals

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but the EPA report indicates more than 1000 of
those dumps may pose serious health hazarads.

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The Love Canal story unfolded
like a horror movie.

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The canal itself began as a
dream part of William loves

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city of the future. When the dream was
abandoned, the canal became a dump

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for toxic chemical wastes.
When the dump was abandoned

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the Hooker chemical company covered over with
dirt and it looked like an ordinary field.

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A school was built on that
field then a playground,

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and homes went up around the edges.

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Their whole area when we
live there in Niagara Falls

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where it was beautiful. We are ten houses
away from the school, we are three blocks

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from the summers (inaudible).
We were on the very outskirts

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of the city which was almost country
with big open field in the back.

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We went to the

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school playground playing
naturally and uh… we use to find…

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I don’t know back then we called it like
a pirate’s lagoon or one have, you know,

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with children playing and we would say uh… look it, this
is the black lagoon. And when we play hide and go seek,

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if you’re not going to be here. We’re going to throw you in
there. And this was actually a puddle of black substance.

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In the mid 1970s,

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newspapers putted reports of chemicals
on the surface of the field,

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and in the basements of nearby homes.

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In 1976, it was before Love
Canal broke, I got pregnant.

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I carried the child for nine months, baby weighed
three pounds and missed still point birth.

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Neighbors began to compare notes.

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There was a crimp dock across the
street in there. And there was uh…

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miscarriage that I had myself living in that
house. The girl next door had three miscarriages.

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The girl next door to me had uh… a child that
was partially deaf. There was a horror story

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for everyone of those homes.
Residents organized, testing began.

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In August, 1978, and emergency order from
the New York State Health Department

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advised pregnant women and children
under two to leave the area.

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The neighborhood was in a panic.

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A few days later, the state
purchased more than 300 homes

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in the first two rings of
around the canal, a ghost town.

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[sil.]

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The cleanup began. The
danger zone was fenced off,

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and the state issued a report saying that there was no
threat to the health of people who lived beyond the fence.

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The government had acted,
the matter was closed.

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But for more than 700 families,
the matter was not closed.

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I was very naïve, I couldn’t… imagine how they
could leave me now. There’s only one street away,

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can’t tell people on one street that you’re in danger,
you have to move. And people on the very next street

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that you’re not. This program is about
what happened during the two years

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that followed to the people who
were left outside the fence.

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The story has told from the point of view of
residents, their advisors, and government officials

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who are involved in this,
the first Love Canal.

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[sil.]

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One of the biggest things for the residents is to
always walk around saying, you know, chemicals

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do not stop that fences. They do go through
the holes and things like that. Umm…

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it made our… our quite… our quite a lot
harder. It defined a particular area

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that is affected, and no one was going
to go out from the health department

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or any other agency, and willingly
look at the outer community

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outside of that fence to see if there’s
an environmental health problems.

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And it took the residents with the help of some
real fantastic scientists to go out there,

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to interview the community and to prove to the
health department if there was about normal disease.

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My aunt lived up on the very corner,

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right on the crick right next to the Kenny
house umm… had gotten breast cancer.

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And about year later, the lady
across the street got breast cancer.

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And about year after that I got breast
cancer. And previous to all of us,

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there was another lady that lived previously
in the Kenny’s house that had breast cancer.

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Then about two years ago, there was another
lady up in the other house over here that

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got breast cancer.

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Over down here, uh… bad heart, went on
below open heart, open heart, then that,

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this goes that way that’s way was
hard, more so in this street here.

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Love said the idea that the clusters
had some geographical meaning.

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I personally thought that she was wrong. I
really thought that I was going to find

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genetic susceptibility that’s
what I’m interested in.

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But we did the survey and when I
plotted it on a map, I saw that indeed

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there was a clustering that
looked far more geographic

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than anything else.

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Our top story this hour detective work by the Love Canal Home Owners
Association were build a possible link between the resident health problems

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and the possible stream bed. Their
theory is that the stream beds

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or scales carry toxic chemicals away from
the canal. And survey result released today

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show a higher rate of illness along this whales.
The home owners’ research runs contrary

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to the state health department conclusion
that Canalers are living outside

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the protective bins are safe.

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[sil.]

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So I brought my maps and my
information down in New York State.

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Uh… My superior is in New York State Health
Department and proposed this is a hypothesis to them.

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Why don’t you look at
disease in these homes

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which along sways compare to the homes which
are not to see if there’s a difference

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in these incidents. And they agreed

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to do that. What happened
that was quite different.

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I’ll never forget it because
I got on the aero plane,

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flew back Buffalo, picked up the newspaper
in the airport, and there was a story

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in the front page attacking my hypothesis.

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Our major concern which states
that the outside to her

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and subsequently in the media was that

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the information was

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not independently confirmed by medical

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uh… uh… uh… records I guess.

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This is one of the major concerns
that we had. We imposed that

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independent confirmation uh…
requirement on our own work.

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But I was sort of shaken that umm…

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the regular rules of science
work operating here

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that the hypothesis was being rejected

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before I even have chance to put it on the
table and so it before had the chance

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to analyze the date.

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We had use to the media. So we
took one family from each group,

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maybe if I don’t, birth defects their month, and it’s a terrible, you
know, you have play girl of the month, we have disease of the month,

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but we would take one person who had
a child with major birth defects,

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and would have some sympathetic
reporter uh… interview her.

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And this gathered a lot of public sympathy.
It demonstrated a quite

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and it moved to politicians because people were questioning, how
can this forming with the child of three major birth defects?

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A mental retardation. How could they leave her there?
How could they let her home with this reading in it?

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And as a result they finally
decided to investigate our theory

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and they confirmed it. News radio has learned
exclusively the State Health Department

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is ready to order a second round of
evacuations from the Love Canal neighborhood.

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All pregnant women and children under two will be urged
to leave the area. The state began further tests

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after studies by the home owners turned up serious
health problems. Now data collected in State tests

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showed two times the risk of birth
defects and miscarriages among

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families living in the outer
rings of the Love Canal area.

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The decision recommendation that the panel made
through the New York State Department of Health

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had a meeting held yesterday was that based
on this information, we should recommend

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that the feeders in effect be removed
from the source of exposure.

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Practically, that means that all pregnant women
living in the area between 1970th and 103rd streets

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should be removed in order to
minimize even this very small risk,

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additional risk to the infants living
in the area. I was in much danger

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in August with my baby as I’m now. Right.

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Why was I force to stay here all this time?
I’ll be here with my baby soon.

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Mam, it’s in August… Another
thing I met on another thing

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I have a year and half, almost she’ll be almost two,
but she was year and half when this house started

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and a two and half when it all started. Now she’s three.
You don’t think I’m not concerned about my three year old

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as I’m of this baby I’m caring. I
can identify with these people.

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And I don’t blame them for being angry. I believe that I’m
going to live about but I want to see these people leave too.

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Why creating, just move everybody for once.
We just going to go for another six months

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and then finally you’re going to say, \"Oh, wow, then from the age of
two to five. And then it’s going to be from the age of five to ten.\"

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Oh, come on, smarten up. Let’s
get… we can spend money overseas,

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we can spend money, bring dead bodies home.

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Yeah. We want home, we
want home, we want home.

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All want home.

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We want home. We want home.

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There are just, you know, I can state this once,
and I’ll be glad to do that. There are no uh…

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plants at this time for further acquisitions
of property in connection with Love Canal.

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[sil.]

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A deadly discovery at the Love
Canal \"Dioxin\", one of the

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most lethal chemicals known to science has been found in soil samples
taken during the cleanup, now underway at the abandoned dump site.

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Again we found,

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oh, they can’t leave us here. They just can’t we know, you know, we’ve told
them that there was dangerous things, and then they have to get us out now.

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But they didn’t.

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The reaction of the State Health
Department up until this point

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had been that until toxin is identified that
Love Canal. The residents and the people

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living in the area have no
nothing to be concerned about.

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When it was identified that
health department reaction was

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the levels identified are very low, and
you have nothing to be concerned about.

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People who have no scientific training,

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who are told by the Commission of Health,

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Dioxin is one of the most
toxic compounds known to man

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could not believe that there is
a point or a level of exposure

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that doesn’t harm you. Normally,

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great deal of scientific, great
deal of the scientific community

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agrees with this approach
to the problems of dioxin.

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It left us. We decided we had to do something
drastic because they’re just not listening to us.

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So we decided to pick up the
umm… gates for the canal,

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and we did. And I think
there were something

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like 13 or 16 of us that were arrested because
we want more to allow trucks or buses

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to enter the site. And I was one of them.

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I was uh… six months pregnant, and they were a little
reluctant to arrest me, but I refused to leave so

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they had to…

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It went against my human nature to do it, but it was something I felt that I had to do
because of what was happening to us, and how we are being made to stay in the neighborhood.

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Uh… I literally tried one
whole day to get arrested

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and the police wouldn’t have arrest me.

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I think I’m trying to talk me out of it, and then I’m blocked
the truck with Patty Grenzy who was seven months pregnant,

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and we were hauled off to jail with my
daughter’s (inaudible) Daly in the stroller,

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locked the stroller in the
Daly in a separate cell.

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And you know it was… that
was it, but we did it.

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You know at what point does a situation

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become dangerous in society? At the
55 per 1000 or 10,000 death rate,

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at the 54 per 10,000. In
other fields of science,

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we sometimes talk about
gaps in our knowledge.

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Here, it’s almost our knowledge
is little gap in our ignorance.

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We’ve really know very little about exposure
to these chemicals. So you’re dealing with

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a field where there are more
questions, and answers right now

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to make it worth. Most of our
knowledge comes from exposure

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to a single chemical, and the consequent
health effect. In Love Canal,

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we have over 200 chemicals.
And most people think

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that if you have a compound that
causes cancer, no level of exposure

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to that component is safe, and more
and more people are going to this.

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But yet, there’s another side of
that argument which says until

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we have people, until we have some evidence

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that five parts per million of benzene
actually causes health problems in people,

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government should regulate exposures

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to blow that until there’s some evidence
that you can’t wait for that evidence

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when that evidence means
people getting sick.

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How do you decide whether to move
those people out while you determine

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if there’s or there’s not a risk, or
whether to leave them in their homes?

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Well, I think that you try to

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assemble all of the information that you
have available at a given point of time

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and you try to assemble

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as much expertise as you can and uh…

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seeking advice as to how to
interrupt that information.

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And then you make the best judgment that you
can based on that information and advice.

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So up to a point, you must ask residents

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to accept a degree of risk.

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Well, I… I don’t think that any of us

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live in a risk-free environment.
All of us except

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wrists in our everyday lives that

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are higher than the risk of living
in Love Canal. I mean smoking

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is a risk that some
people choose to accept,

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that’s quite a bit higher than the
risk of living in Love Canal.

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And driving a car is another risk

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we choose to accept.

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However, those are risks where the person
making the choice gets the benefit.

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I get the benefit of having
an easy transportation,

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and I take the risk. I have the benefit
if, if there’s one from smoking,

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and I take the risk. When
we get to involuntary risk

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where someone else gets the benefit,

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and I have to take the risk
then I personally, and I think

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the public in general wants a much lower
level of risk. I used to have garlic,

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and wild onions, and
strawberries, and tomatoes,

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and cucumbers, deep carrots, we
used to have everything beans,

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china beans and regular beans,
and just all kinds of stuff.

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And you know, it just makes to search
things that have been disrupted.

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When did the state tell you to stop
growing your vegetable garden?

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In August of ‘78. So they weren’t willing

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to move you out, but they were willing to tell you to stop growing
vegetables. Yeah, willing to tell us not to have the kids go barefooted,

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not even go in the basement, don’t play
in a garden, but enjoy your house,

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live there with your family, while
we continue doing our tests,

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and usually in these guinea pigs. Well,
what’s happening here is no longer science

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but politics.

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And the Science has become clouded by
a great deal of political pressure.

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When the responsibility was

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100 families or so living right
on the banks of the canal,

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that problem was within the
resources of New York State

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to deal with. When the
problem became 1000 families

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in the Love Canal neighborhood, plus,

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a list of hazardous waste sites in
New York state that now number 609,

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
that was a problem beyond the resources

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
of New York State’s government to deal
with. But as long as New York State

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
was going to be solely responsible
for solving the problem,

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
and coming up with the money
to solve the problem.

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
The New York State scientists were in a

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
conflict of interest situation
if they showed a serious problem

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
then the state had to do something to solve
it. If they didn’t show a serious problem

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
then the state didn’t have
to do anything. And I…

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
I think it’s… it’s hard to do good science

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
under the best of circumstances.
It’s… it’s very,

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
very difficult to do it when Under the best of circumstances it’s… it’s
very difficult to do it when there’s a conflict of interest involved.

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
The general public likes to think
of science as being value of free.

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
Here are the facts, and any reasonable
scientist looking at the facts

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
will come to exactly the same opinion.
But science is not value free.

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
Every scientist comes into the
situation with his preconceived ideas

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
which influence

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
not only the way he looks at the
facts, but in this situation,

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
the manner in which the
facts are collected.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
Seventy more Love Canal residents
have checked into motel today

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
about health today bringing to 300, the number of
families driven out by chemical fumes this week.

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
The state is putting the bill, if a doctor
certifies illness related to the cleanup underway

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
at the Canal. There’s latest development sending costs
so early in the nine month construction project.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
Coming up in just a few moments,

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
a report from Niagara Falls where actress Jane Fonda, and
her husband Tom Hayden are touring the Love Canal area,

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
and offering their support to Love Canal
refugees who have been relocated to motels.

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
This is a tragedy of such,

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
of such immense human proportions
that it’s very difficult

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
to talk.

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
We’ve had a short bus ride where we’ve had
an opportunity to talk to some of the people

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
in some detail about what they’re going
through, the children they’ve lost,

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
miscarriages, a husband’s life lost,
had their lives had been torned up.

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
It’s unbelievable if it
happens in America today.

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
Keep fighting and join together. Let
us self get mad, and we can win.

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
And what she brought was national attention

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
to the picture. Her coming in even if she
didn’t say anything just being here rather,

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
so we had an opportunity to talk to press, and to
demonstrate our plight, and get public support,

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
and get people to write the White
House, and write different politicians

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
to apply the proper pressure. Love
Canal residents have suffered enough.

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
This is the reasoning behind a bill proposing a five million
dollar fund to buy up the homes of Love Canal residence,

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
the legislation comes more than a year after home
owners near the toxic dump began their cries of,

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
\"We want out.\" You see the
problem at the time was

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
the people could not see any
light at the end of the tunnel.

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
That’s complete frustration. They’ve influence nor
they have… they were being deserted by everyone.

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
Now it’s more than just a help, it’s an
economic firm. Here you have low income,

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
lower middle income people, many of whom have
all their life savings tied up in that home.

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
And they’re seeding that go down the drain.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
What I’m going to move with? My… All
my equity is tied up in the house.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
So it’s more and

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
I have to go on welfare,

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
move in here after within some shanty, move
in, not able to afford food for the table.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
How can I? Right now, I
have a roof over my head.

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
This little girl stays
warm in the winter time.

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
If I move in, I don’t have any money where am
I going to live? What am I going to feed her?

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
How can I? And there’s still a chance
that they are going to come through,

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
and pay money for the house.

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
I can’t leave it. I can’t sell it. I
can’t run it, and I can’t give it away.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
And they thought the state’s walking away from
it. The federal government hasn’t done a thing.

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
You know, where… where… what can I do? There
was no light at the end of the tunnel.

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
I feel like I’m being treated like
a criminal, like I’m the criminal.

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
Yet, I didn’t dump it, I didn’t build the
school in the neighborhood on top of it.

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
And I… you know, I… it’s just that I feel like
we are being punished for I really feel like,

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
well, Barbara Quimby? This is too bad and
you’re gonna… you’re gonna stick this out now.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
I didn’t do it. This said, \"Okay,
if you want to leave you can leave,

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
and you have to go out and find your own home. You’re not going to get
moving expenses, but we will guarantee the equity you have in your house.

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
And at that time,

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
we estimated we would only need
three to five million dollars

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
because we only expected that 25%. And finally,
the governor bought it. Then we are made,

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
we’re not getting anywhere like the war was there,
but he suddenly bought it, and that was in October,

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
but two months after we came out with it. And we
then went back in the session, and moved that bill,

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
set up the five million dollars. You know,

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
is this the final victory? Is this exactly what you
wanted? This is amazing victory. This is what we wanted.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
We have a few little places but this is it. Often,
we can finally have some kind of normal life again.

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
They have tried and tried and tried. And
finally, the little guy, you might say,

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
lowest a little guy… Hey, hello.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
Fun time. This is the worst jobs.
Not very often.

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
We returned home only to find out

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
that only five million dollars was appropriated,
and they needed at least 15 million dollars

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
a minimum to relocate those families. And there’s nobody
who is going to fund the other 15 million dollars,

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
or 10 million dollars to do it.

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
We… we felt that, you know, if we add something to the
situation, the federal government would come along,

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
and some place we would get a match, or we could use
this for seed money or otherwise grant made available,

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
or something along those lines never
happened. I don’t think anybody

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
uh… you know, afford that they could buy out
with neighborhood to five million dollars

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
that was not the Floyd.
In generally speaking,

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
I think it would have calm down. And no
home before would have been purchased.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
I suspect not unless some…
something had happened,

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
and what happened was a chromosome study. Like
that we have your attention and your voice ladies.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
And now I would like to call
upon the Regional administrator

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
to the environmental protection agency Charles
Warren, from this morning from New York City

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
to make an announcement. Mr. Warren.

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
Thank you, Jonathan. Uh… copied by Dr.
Vilma Hunt of our,

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
who head our health… Startling news from the
Love Canal today, researchers have found

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
serious chromosome damage in a level of 36
residents tested in a study commissioned

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
to bolster the federal government’s lawsuit against
Hooker chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
indicates such chromosome damage can
result in cancer and birth defects.

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
The cause yet maybe exposure to toxic chemicals
are reviewed as the study is underway.

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
And we expect that review to be
completed by next Wednesday, May 23rd.

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
After that, review is
completed, We’ll then decide

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
whether this evidence added
to the cumulative knowledge

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
that we already have from other health,
and environmental studies at Love Canal

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
justifies a recommendation for relocation of
the residents, or other appropriate actions

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
to assist those in the area.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
It seems to me that the federal government is finally up to
two years to come up to the high level thinking of housewives

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
that they have constantly put down. We know
what’s going on, and we did research too,

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
and we want out of there. We want
our kids out, not on Wednesday,

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
today. Well, Wednesday was chosen

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
at the highest levels of the
government to make the final decision.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
[sil.]

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
If you just pass the word around, nobody… we’re not going to
do anything wild, we’re just going to keep them in the house,

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
nothing more that (inaudible). Okay?
Surely. Don’t good enough.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
And don’t let them out. Okay, piss the word. That’s enough.
Yeah. That’s all. All right. And what else. They own criminal…

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
Hey, guys sit.

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
I can’t, I can’t put a chain around it.
This war just end.

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
Two federal environmental officials are being held hostage
at the Love Canal Homeowners Association’s headquarters.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
People there stirred up by an announcement that president’s
chromosome damage maybe a link to toxic chemical exposure.

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
Lois Gibbs is on the line
to Washington pleading

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
for funds for permanent relocation.
So one thing have asked me to do

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
was the come out and feel out the residents. If I were
select the row in the two EPA representatives come on,

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
just talk. Does anybody
know what would happen to?

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
That different story.

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
No more association president Warren Well gives support with
Congressman Jonathan in Washington to try to get some answers.

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
The boss is set to be the
President Carter at this hour

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
at a dinner meeting at the White House. We could have
more information tonight after that. From Niagara falls,

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
this is Dick Nicolson with the live news
tonight, and we send it too back to you Rich.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:38.000
[sil.]

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
I have told the White House and
this is perennial approval

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
that we will allow the
two EPA representatives

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
truly abund

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
if we do not have a disaster, declaration

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
Wednesday by noon then what they have seen

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
here today is just a sesame street picnic…

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
Yeah.

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
Love Canal residents

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
are tired of being sensible, reasonable
and dealing with these turkeys

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
because they’re not listening to us. We
know that all you respond to both people

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
and people who do things and
taking the law in their own hands.

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
Apart of approval of the
residents of Love Canal,

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
we’ll have these two representatives go
to demonstrate that we’re being missed

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
this but we got going to be radical, but
if we does get something on Wednesday,

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
White House spreader watch
the hell out. Yeah.

00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:03.000
[sil.]

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
First of all, everybody in the
nation was going to Washington,

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
what else can they do? And what could they do worth and
holding hostages? You know, so everybody is going to still

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
be looking at Love Canal see what happened and the
federal government had to come up with something.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
Got to read it to me, if
you’ll keep real quiet,

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
it I’ll be able to repeat
it to you so you can hear.

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
An emergency to permit
the federal government

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
and the state of New York to undertake. Our top story
this hour, President Carter gives 700 families

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
there a long awaited ticket out of the Love Canal
neighborhood. A declaration of a federal emergency

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
coming now on a phone call to homeowners so
federal government finally back in the picture

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
although this is not the disaster
declaration residents that want it.

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
That designation is considered the key to permanent
relocation, but residents are still hoping today’s

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
announcement will pave the way
for a federal buyout of home.

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
I feel good, but not that good. You, you
get the picture? I want home pivotally,

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
that’s all. Live in peace of
my home, let me out of here,

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
covered up, able to answer, I don’t know what
to do with a death. But this gives solver.

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
Now with my daughter has central nervous system problems and
the asthma. But how many cancers are going in their body,

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
but could have been prepared if this have been
done two years ago. I’m better, very good.

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
American was pre-implemented.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:03.000
[sil.]

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
Cheers to the home owners
in all our hard work.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:18.000
[sil.]

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
That was a disaster officials set
up shopping on Niagara falls today,

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
hours after President Carter’s emergency
declaration for the Love Canal.

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management
Agency meet with residents tonight to explain how the

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
temporary relocation will work.

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
You have an emergency declaration from the
president of the United States which means

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
you will get temporary
housing free up to one year

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
from the time you move in. (inaudible).

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
Well, I’m going to negotiate
that for you now.

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
I said I didn’t have any easy answers for you.
If you just come up today, we’ve begun to work

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
with the state New York. We’ve begun
ti work with the state of New York

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
to try and skip this
relocation program moving

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
so that by tomorrow at telephone
numbers… (inaudible).

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
You know you have a lot to
say and you feel alone.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
Well, I want to know how long it’s gonna
take before the say, they’ll burn the house?

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
How long this gonna take, two
or three more years or what?

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
When are you going to buy the house? Cut the
crap. We don’t need it. we don’t want it.

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
This is just not enough with the people.
If there’s hell on earth and I found it.

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
I’m sure if God is not going to send me
to hell because I found it here on earth.

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
I’m 65 years old almost,
I’m sick, and tired

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
of being a yo, yo, pull this way,
pull that way, pull the other way.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
One all together whole the world, you ought to
get in and start following the down the road.

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
All I want, all I want, I
don’t want go be relocated.

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
All I want is my 28, five,
and give it to me tonight,

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
and I’ll go down that road, and I’ll
never look back at Love Canal again.

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:28.000
[sil.]

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
We want house, we want house.

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
We want house. I will say it is
used to and I think to hear,

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
you’re not going to have for not getting any
answer. Right. So now it used to be bit surprised.

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
But in the years, it has time to come along way.
We’ve got (inaudible) we got to bring two evacuated,

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
we’ve got pregnant women and children
and the (inaudible) evacuated.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
We now had an emergency. You cannot all
go home and sit tight in your hotel or

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
wherever wait and see what happens?
We’ve two clauses at the end,

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
we are talking about purchasing our homes
in Washington. Decision is not made.

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
There’s only one thing is going to make
decision and that’s public opinion.

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
We objected to this temporary relocation.

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
We… we became their agent reluctantly and said, Holy,
miracle, you guys are doing the wrong thing here.

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
Don’t put these people out of their houses for
another year. Let’s, let’s take these houses now.

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
And… and why go through this anguish

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
and… and you know, the perfectly valid at the end of another
year, your tasks are going to… are not going to say,

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
take these houses and you’re gonna be in the same
position that we were. We went through that once.

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
We put the people out of there houses once
into temporary relocation. And it was… uh…

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
there’s no way I can explain to
you the… the… telephone calls,

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
the anguish that I get
over this whole situation.

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
They’re spending another what may turn out to be a heck of a lot
more than 16 million dollars to temporarily relocate these people

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
when all we need is 15 to permanently

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
buy their homes and get out.
The system sometimes is wrong.

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
That’s how our job is changing. How we do that?
It’s a long drawn out process, keep it overnight.

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
You know, the logic of the Federal
Government’s position and then…

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
Once they… once they said the
president have giving the money

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
to buy out these houses, and they’ve
got the whole country because this,

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
these waste are all over. I believe in keeping
government as close to the people as possible,

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
and local government taking care
of as many problems as they can.

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
I don’t like to see the state and federal government move into a… move
into a problem area and let’s say they have to. In this particular case,

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
I felt the state and or the
federal government had to

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
because local government cannot do the job. Or
we establish president, yes, I think we are.

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
Uh… We are in. I… A whole new area which…
which President must be establishes

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
the area of toxic waste. Lois Gibbs,

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
the homeowner becomes Lois Gibbs lobbyist today.
She’s in Washington hoping to enlarge funding

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
for permanent relocation for Love Canal
residence, and she’s aiming for the top

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
a meeting with President Carter.
I have a few updates

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
before we get into the business at hand. For your
information, this is what happened in Washington,

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
they refused to see me, and the order
was sent down from the White House.

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
But somebody from the White House put the order
down that nobody should meet with Lois Gibbs,

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
and discuss the Love Canal situation.
When one of the representatives

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
called to say that the meeting was canceled
at 10 o’clock when my meeting was at 11:00.

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
I told them that I refused to have this cancel. There was
confirm before I left town, and I will be there at 11:00,

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
and make sure that they are there as well. I went to the
door, and I said, Look at you, do you think let me in,

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
or you going to sit here and watch me stand on your desk
and pound and scream and hollow with the media around me.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
It’s your choice. You can either do it
peacefully or you can do it by force.

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
And that made my trip down
there almost useless.

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
The other thing in the most current
thing is the EPA Health Studies.

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
These health studies are not
going to be used to determine

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
whether or not residents in Love Canal
should be permanently relocated.

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
We have in our last flyer, encouraged
residents to boycott the studies.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
And these are the reasons why, one
is because it’s not going to deem

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
whether you’re going to move or not,
it doesn’t matter. The other thing is

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
EPA has not given our consultants
the designs or the protocols,

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
or the plans of how they are going to do their
study so that they can review, and say,

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
\"Yes, this is a good study, or no, it is not.
And this is where it has to be adjusted.

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
If you remember with the New York State Health
Department study, there were many problems,

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
the study that New York State Health Department is
useless to you, useless to the state of New York,

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
useless to the nation as a whole.
Nobody knows as a result of their study

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
what is wrong in this neighborhood. But the
difference is we’ve been to this with DOH,

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
we’ve been through this with New York
State, and we know how they move.

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
We know what their next move is. We’ve already
experienced it. And in this case, we can stop it.

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
We can stop it with the
cooperation of the community,

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
but it takes a community as a whole to do
it. And we should get everything we can

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
not just for ourselves, but
for a 2000 or 3000 other

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
chemically contaminated towns
throughout the United States.

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
And for them and for us, let’s fight the
hell out of them, let’s give them health.

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
[sil.]

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
Both levels of government should have said,

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
\"Not only do we have a crisis on our hands,
but we have an opportunity on our hands.\"

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
They should have taken this
occasion not just to solve

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
an immediate problem in a passing way.
But to learn

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
so that they could solve future
environmental crises in a…

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
in a much better way than they have been able to
handle Love Canal. They didn’t take this opportunity,

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
however, as a learning experience.
As a result,

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
uh… the potential for learning lessons

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
from the Love Canal as in large
part been lost. That doesn’t mean

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
we can’t learn lessons from the
Love Canal, we certainly can,

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
we certainly have, but the… the fullness

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
of the learning experience
that we could have had uh…

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
has just trickled away because uh… they
didn’t take advantage of it at the time,

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
they didn’t go in there with the
adequate type of comprehensive health

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
and environmental testing and
that they should have in ‘77,

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
and ‘78, and ‘79.

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
Recapping our top story, 16 billion dollars, that’s
the total Love Canal price tag in legal claims,

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
the figure boasted today with the latest
lawsuit by residents charging Hooker chemical,

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
and state and local governments with
negligence. The state and feds already have

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
multimillion dollar claims against Hooker, the
whole legal around robbing expected to be

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
years in the courts. I cut that article out that’s on
the wall behind me, and it’s a 16 dollars in claims.

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
I assume that’s approximately correct.

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
There’s anything we did here

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
is far as offering
assistance to the victims,

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
always had a cloud over it or if I or

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
as an agency get involved in that
situation, and take an action

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
no matter how well meaning will I be sued.

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
All the lawsuits are extremely important
I believe. And the reason for that is

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
really in a fine traditional
American capitalistic sense.

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
You can approach the regulation of
hazardous chemicals in two ways

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
that are Hooker chemicals, for example, say
with a judgment of 100 million dollars,

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
or 200 million dollars, or whatever of the amount, but
if it’s a substantial amount that’s a message to them

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
that if you miss manage the wastes,
it’s going to hurt your profits.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
You’re going to pay a lot of money.
And if they have to do that

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
then they’re going to have to react, they’re going to have to
change their practices, they’re going to have to be very careful,

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
that in the future they will no longer
mismanaged their wastes, that in the future,

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
they’re going to do things in a way that won’t harm
people. Umm… I expect that if we win Love Canal,

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
for example, those lawsuits within three
years, it will completely revolutionize

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
the… the chemical industry, both
in terms of their uh… manufacture

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
of… of hazardous substance, and their
disposal of them where it might take

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
the research conservation, and recovery act in the task of toxic substance
Control Act, those two pieces of federal legislation 20, 30, 40 years to do.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
[sil.]

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
Now the purpose of this legislation is to

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
give new life if you will,
to give a sense of future

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
to those who have been so long visited with
despair living in the Love Canal sector.

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
I’ve met now… Among our
health stories this hour,

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
Governor Carey in Niagara Falls this afternoon to sign
the bill creating the Love Canal revitalization agency.

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
Today’s legislation seen as another attempt

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
by Carey to attracted the federal funds into the
plan for relocation of Love Canal resident.

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
I’ve made the point Congressman Afonso made the
point that we don’t want the federal government

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
to waste its dollars on high
cost temporary relocation

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
when that amount of money or less can
be used to give us the guarantees

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
that will help in permanent resettlement
for those who for whatever reason

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
want to be removed from the area, the
agency will carry on that function as well.

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
But do you really think that area can be revitalized that? Do you
believe that a new community in spite of all that’s going on?

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
That’s the purpose of this bill. It’s called the
revitalization bill. Uh… The federal government said, \"No\".

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
We… we first of all, we’re not going to be
involved with the acquisition of any houses,

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
and uh… and they… they did
not want to deal with…

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
with uh… our revitalization plan.

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
It resulted in me going back to the governor and
saying, Governor, I think I have, I met a stalemate

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
where I’m at a loss, just how it’s
going to be resolved. There has to be

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
another meeting between umm… the governor’s
office, and the White House to determine

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
the parameters that Mr. Wilcox,
and I can negotiate with.

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
You know, I just started to (inaudible) it’s totally
unacceptable at this point from the state’s point of view.

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
Of course. Lowest of all, you expect that. She told us then she say that… Yeah,
she said that kind of… Just take a way of uh… everybody pairs in the ball.

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Right. Because nobody wants to
take the bargain right now.

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
So once we got down to sincere give

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
and take on this thing over a period
of many hours in difficult times,

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
we… we were able to come out with
an agreement that was satisfactory.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
We went from zero participation on the
part of the federal government to

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
uh… 15 million dollars in the seven
and a half million dollars grant.

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
And then again, it was very
difficult to get around the…

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
the position of the federal government that they did not
want to buy houses. And so we had to deal with that

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
and… and the grant could
be used to buy houses,

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
but they would not uh… say
that it could be used to.

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
So it was given to the state, for the state of White
House. Right. And then we have the revitalization agency

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
in Niagara Falls. And the federal
government did not want to deal directly

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
with the revitalization agency because they
had to deal with the state. And so the state

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
had to… I had to work out an agreement
with the federal government

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
so that I could pass the
money through to the agency.

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
And then the agency had to be the first line of responsibility
to pay back the seven and a half million dollars,

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
but if they did, if they paid
it back uh… in a fashion,

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
it could be considered a loan which
would’ve been unconstitutional.

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
So I had to make it so that the agency
was not, we’re obliged to pay it back,

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
but we knew they would not pay it back. And
eventually, it would come back as a… as a… uh…

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
I can’t say a debt, but as a… as a problem

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
for the state to deal with. And when it
reverted back to the state for payment

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
then we would take it out of
our disaster preparedness

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
uh… fund, or whatever we would be
reimbursed from the federal government.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
And… and that’s the kind of complications
that we were dealing with.

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
The bill is finally pledged on a campaign
swing through Niagara Falls tomorrow.

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
President Carter will sign the pact committing
15 million dollars in federal funds

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
to buy up the homes of
Love Canal residents.

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
The homeowners will hear details of
the agreement at the meeting tonight.

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
None has 15 million dollars was divided into
two parts, a seven and a half million dollars

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
which was a grant, the other
seven and a half million dollars

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
was an advance on some future
to testify a disaster emergency

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
that might come up within the state. As
you see someone who has raised a hand…

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
First of all, will any of the 20 million dollars
be used as an impart, as an incentive program

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
for those who want to remain at Love Canal, or will
it all be essentially used for relocation temporary,

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
permanent, and the ministration class? On
the seventeen and a half million dollars

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
as we understand that none
of that could be used or,

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
and send up for people to remain. In other words,
in the revitalization of the neighborhood?

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
A very difficult, right. There’s
no money that’s very difficult.

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
I’d like to say this evening that I’m very happy to
find out that we’re not being considered neurotic.

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
Individuals were being relocated
because we’re a bunch of nuts.

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
So thank you very, very much for finally realizing
what’s wrong with ourselves here. We have a problem.

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:08.000
[sil.]

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
Originally, when President Carter came in,

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
oh, I knew he was coming, and I got a call from the White
House that I was an invited guest to the ceremonial signing

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
of the bill. I thought I would
have to take an adversarial role.

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
If I would have to stand in the audience and say,
President Carter, I’ve been trying to get hold of you

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
for two and a half years to discuss Love
Canal, but actually didn’t turn out

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
that way turned out much nicer.

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
[sil.]

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
This agreement which Governor Carey

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
and I will sign provides a federal loans and grant
program that will permit the state of New York

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
to purchase the homes of Love Canal
residents. There have been argument,

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
and a lot of confusion
over scientific studies

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
of the Love Canal area. But there could
be no argument about the human reality

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
of the problem. People have
suffered, and are suffering still.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
The financial, and physical
suffering has been better enough.

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
But perhaps, first of all,
has been the mental anguish,

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
and a terrible uncertainties to which
those families have been subjected.

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
There’s really no way to make adequate
restitution for that kind of suffering.

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
But this agreement will at least give the
families of the area some 750 of them,

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
the financial freedom to pack up,
and leave if they choose to do so.

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
I want to recognize four people
in particular who have championed

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
the cause of the Love Canal residents,
first, Congressman John LaFalce

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
who has been at the forefront of
this battle from the very beginning,

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
second, Mayor Michael O’Laughlin of Niagara
Falls who’s made many trips to Washington

00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
to argue the case of the people of
the city, third, Governor Hugh Carey

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
who I don’t believe has ever overlooked an
opportunity to remind me about the problem

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
in Love Canal, and forth and most
important the Grassroots leader

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
of the Love Canal residents, Lois Gibbs.
Without her impassioned advocacy,

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
and dedication that might have never
been Love Canal emergency declaration.

00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
And this agreement might never have come to
pass. The whole question of the disposal

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
of hazardous wastes,
especially toxic chemicals

00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
is going to be one of the great
environmental challenges of 1989s

00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
that must never be in our
country, another Love Canal.

00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
Thank you very much. And President
Carter signed the bill,

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
and Governor Carey was at the microphone,
and I walked up to the front of the aisle,

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
and I just stood there, and looked right after
President Carter eye to eye and smiled very nicely,

00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
and waited for Carey to get through,
and I was going to break in,

00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
and do my thing reluctantly but I couldn’t do it. And I was
pointed out who I was because President Carter mentioned me

00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
in his speech and the Grassroots Organization
and Carter invited me up on stage.

00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
Uh… They held me up on stage,
it was… it was really good

00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
because I had a half hour with President
Carter, he had to stand there,

00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
and address the person on the podium smiling say,
\"Yes\", and I wonderful. Why I could just sit there,

00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
and jib a jabber in us here and
do a lot of lobbying saying,

00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
\"Your Love Canal is not over. There are still health
effects there. We need three percent mortgage money.

00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
They want to move new families back into Love Canal, and
President Carter is up to you, and I have to stop it.\"

00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
And Love Canal, Mr. President, what
can I say? New York loves you today.

00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
I know.

00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
[sil.]

00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
By 1983, the houses inside the
fence had been demolished,

00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
but just outside the fence where
430 Love Canal families have

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
sold their homes to the government,
matters are far from settled.

00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
In a controversy of 1982 report based on data
from the Environmental Protection Agency,

00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
the Federal Department of Health
and Human Services concluded

00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.999
that the neighborhood outside the fence was safe
for resettlement. But the same report also stated

00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.999
that continued cleanup, and perpetual
monitoring of the area must be guaranteed.

00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:49.999
Scientists, former residents, and
the New York state attorney general

00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:54.999
have raised objections to the proposed resettlement.
Nevertheless, more than 250 new families

00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.999
have expressed interest in purchasing
the recently evacuated homes.

00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.999
A decision on resettlement is pending.
Around the country,

00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.999
the number of abandoned hazardous waste dump
sites continues to grow of the more than

00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
30,000 sites being studied.
The EPA has slated for 418

00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
of the most dangerous for cleanup. Work
is complete on only five of those sites.

00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
And in February, 1983,

00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
the 2400 residents of Times Beach
Missouri town found to be contaminated

00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:34.999
by dioxin were permanently evacuated
by the federal government.

00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:39.999
Some are calling that
the second Love Canal.

00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:44.999
It’s the silent killer,
it’s under the ground.

00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.999
And it slowly slipped out into the neighborhood, united by
everybody to find out what’s in the field behind their home

00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:54.999
before they move into it. That’s an education
that I had to learn in the hard way.

00:56:55.000 --> 00:57:00.000
[sil.]

00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:14.999
To obtain a transcript to this program,

00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
send three dollars to In Our Own Backyard.

00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.999
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00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:33.000
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