Transitions - Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering - page 98

(diuresis), increased starchy deposits, and hemorrhaging of the spleen. * This
whole problem can be avoided if we vigilently hold to a sustainable viewpoint.
That is, using too little or too much nitrogen fertilizer is problematic, the
former resulting in reduced crop yields and the latter in nitrates in drinking
water. Thus, the life cycle of the fertilizer application and the mass balance of
nitrogen must be seen as drivers and constraints of this disease.
Nutrients demonstrate the importance of cycles. Compounds of nitrogen
and sulfur are important in every environmental medium. They exist as air
pollutants, water pollutants, indicators of eutrophication (i.e., nutrient en-
richment), ecological conditions, and acid rain. They are some of the best
examples of the need for a systematic viewpoint. Nutrients are valuable, but
in the wrong place under the wrong conditions, they become pollutants.
* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Technical Fact Sheet, “National primary drinking
water regulations” http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/hfacts.html, U.S. EPA, Washington, DC,
1999.
Love Canal, New York
The seminal and arguably the most infamous toxic waste case is the contamina-
tion in and around Love Canal, New York. The beneficent beginnings of the
case belie its infamy. In the nineteenth century, William T. Love saw an opportu-
nity for electricity generation from Niagara Falls and the potential for industrial
development. Thus, Love Canal began with a “green” principle (multiple use).
To achieve this, Love planned to build a canal that would also allow ships to pass
around the Niagara Falls and travel between the two great lakes, Erie and Ontario.
The project started in the 1890s, but soon floundered, due to inadequate financ-
ing and to the development of alternating current, which made it unnecessary
for industries to locate near a source of power production. The Hooker Chem-
ical Company purchased the land adjacent to the canal in the early 1900s and
constructed a production facility. In 1942, Hooker Chemical began disposal of
its industrial waste in the canal. This was wartime in the United States, and there
was little concern for possible environmental consequences. Hooker Chemical
(which later became Occidental Chemical Corporation) disposed of over 21,000
tons of chemical wastes, including halogenated pesticides, chlorobenzenes, and
other hazardous materials, into the old Love Canal. The disposal continued until
1952, at which time the company covered the site with soil and deeded it to the
city of Niagara Falls, which wanted to use it for a public park. In transferring
the deed, Hooker specifically stated that the site had been used for the burial
of hazardous materials and warned the city that this fact should govern future
decisions on use of the land. Everything Hooker Chemical did during those years
appears to have been legal and aboveboard.