Love Canal: a neighborhood of about 16 acres in Niagra Falls was used from 1942 to 1953 as dump-site for approximately 22,000 tonnes of chemicals. The area was capped with clay and later houses and a faculty were built up to the edge of the site. In 1978-79 over 200 families were evacuated as potential teratogenic, mutagenic and oncogenic chemicals were identified from the area leading to increased abortion and birth defects.
Times Beach: In the winter of 1982-83, over 2,200 people were evacuated from Time Beach, Missouri, owing to the presence of toxic waste in the soil and water. The toxins belonged to Dioxin (TCD) group, a category of over 75 chemicals, known for their hazardous nature. They are unwanted by-products of organic compoundschlorinated phenols, widely used in the manufacture of plastic, herbicides and pesticides.
Another group of hazardous wastes found there were PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) used as coolant liquids in the electrical industry. PCBs are known to wreck skin, eyes and lungs and cause birth defects and cancer.
Hardeman County: In Tennessee, 60 miles north of Memphis, is a 200-acre hazardous waste dump, which was operational between 1964 and 1972. Up to 25 million gallons of solid and liquid wastes were deposited, which eventually contaminated surface and ground water with chlorinated organic compounds and other chemicals. Delhi: Nearer home, a noxious nightmare assailed the residents of Kardampuri colony in East Delhi in the wee hours of 13 November 1994. Toxic fumes from a heap set aflame by a local junk dealer created the panicky exodus. The people complained of severe breathing distress, irritation and pain in the throat, vomiting and dizziness. Many people, including infants, were seriously affected and a few succumbed to the poisoning. Tests revealed that the chemicals responsible were cyanide, cadmium, selenium and arsenic. Traces of lead, aluminum and copper were also found. It is widely suspected that the burning of metals like cobalt and manganese along with pesticides like organophosphates and carbonates caused the noxious fumes. Gujarat: The catalogue of disasters will be incomplete without the inclusion of the recent Surat plague epidemic. The bubonic plague epidemic, which descended on the city of Surat in 1994, owed its origin to the woefully inadequate waste-management strategies. The waste heaps which were allowed to rot resulted in the proliferation of rodents and vermin, which ultimately triggered off the pestilence of plague which had been thought of as having been eradicated long back. As the people were caught unaware, the disease wrought wide-spread havoc. This episode illustrates the fact that, at times, even those solid wastes, which do not come under the definition of ‘hazardous wastes’, can become
extremely hazardous!
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