Student worksheet
Background
In 1980, President Carter declared Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, a federal emergency area. That proclamation marked the first time in history that a federal disaster was declared as a result of human actions. It also marked the beginning of our growing awareness of the risk associated with hazardous waste disposal.
Love Canal is one of thousands of sites where hazardous waste has been disposed. EPA has disclosed that as of 1980, 90% of hazardous wastes have been disposed of by environmentally unsound methods, mostly in unlined landfills. Of the 10% of waste that were disposed properly, some are in secure landfills, some have been incinerated under controlled conditions, and others have been recycled or recovered.
The aim of this activity is to expose students to the problems related to hazardous waste disposal and the laws regulating handling, tranporting, and disposal of hazardous wastes.
Procedure
1. Ask student if they are aware of the Love Canal case. Distribute the case study for them to read.
2. When student have had an opportunity to read the case study, have them form discussion groups. Have them complete the Student Worksheet.
3. Ask student to dicribe how hazardous waste moved from their containers at Love Canal site into soil and groundwater. They should be aware that containers with corrosive wastes can be worn away. Rainwater seeps into an open container and through a cracked landfill cap, causing hazardous wastes to leach into soil and groundwater.
Goals:
Students will:
describe how hazardous wastes can leach into soil and groundwater.
describe how humans health and the environment were damaged by chemicals that leached from the Love Canal site.
School Subject:
Social Studies, Science.
Grades:
10th - 12th
Time:
1 class period
Materials:
Student worksheet
"Legacy of Love Canal" handout
4. What can we do to prevent future Love Canal incidences? Introduce the students to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Superfund or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the California Department of Health Services, Toxic Substances Control Program covered in the introduction to this unit.
