Love Canal, New York

The documentary begins with the environmental disaster at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York. Governor of New York Hugh Carey provided $10 million in funding for residents nearest the canal to leave. The state purchased the houses of some residents.

The film features commentary on pollutant-linked birth defects by Dr. Beverly Paigen of the Roswell Park Institute (now the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center).^[4] Dr. Paigen collected statistics of diseases near Love Canal. Of 187 households still occupied near Love Canal, she documented "17 nervous breakdowns, 34 miscarriages, 20 birth defects, 41 cases of respiratory disease, and 3 suicides, all well above the national average."^[5] Dr. David Axelrod, former health commissioner of New York, then expanded the evacuations to include households with small children or pregnant women.

The film alleges that Hooker Chemical Company "never warned the state that dioxin was in the canal." In response, Bruce Davis, executive vice president of Hooker Chemical Company, states that "the quantity of dioxin that was located in that entire large canal site was a very, very low quantity."

However, a review of Hooker Chemical documents, obtained by ABC News, shows a list titled "Types of Waste Category" that appears to state which chemicals were dumped, and directly contradicts some statements by Davis. The film also reveals compromising statements by a Hooker Chemical employee, John Gibson.

Love Canal residents sued Hooker Chemical for "billions of dollars" in damages.

New Jersey

Louisiana

Petro Processors of Louisiana was a waste disposal company that served the petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River, including Exxon, Shell, Allied Chemical & Dye Company, and Dow Chemical Company. However, a Petro dumpsite overflowed, "flooding 500 acres with waste", including carbon tetrachloride and hexachlorobutadiene.

The film includes an interview with Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, who said he was "close to the industrial complex because of its effect on the economy."

"We've made tradeoffs, accommodations, or compromises, if you will, taking the position that the need for jobs and industrial development and stimulation to our economy justified the temporary tradeoffs, and in some instances, some serious tradeoffs, where the environment became totally or partially damaged, and in some instances permanently."

"None of us, as far as I know, who are in positions of authority in the state apologize for that. We did what we thought was best for the people and the economy of Louisiana. We accommodated the industry where we thought we could, in order to get the jobs and the development, and in some instances we knowingly and advisedly accepted environmental tradeoffs."

Columbus Millet, resident of Bayou Sorrel, Louisiana, said that residents would occasionally wake up "choking" due to noxious air. Waste was supposedly being disposed via injection well, but was instead illegally dumped in open pits. A disposal worker died of asphyxiation after adding new waste into the pits, causing a chemical reaction.^[9][10]

Michigan

In Montague, Michigan, a Hooker Chemical plant allegedly caused "the worst environmental disaster in Michigan's history". Warren Dobson, former Hooker employee turned whistleblower, gives an interview.^[11]

Superfund

The film briefly mentions the attempts to pass the law that would become the Superfund.

William Sanjour, branch chief of waste reduction within the United States Environmental Protection Agency, alleged that "the [Carter] administration doesn't want to implement this [Superfund] law," and that the agency has been "systematically suppressing" environmental regulations.

An EPA program administrator commented:

The Carter administration's number one policy, as explained to us by top management, is to fight inflation. So, finding more sites where people are being poisoned, could contribute, in their mind, to their fight against inflation.^[12][13]