She
was "just a housewife" in 1976 when she found out something very disturbing. Because
she became concerned about the health problems affecting her own family and the
families of those in her neighborhood of Love Canal, New York she began to do
some research. By reading some documents relating to the Love Canal area, Lois
Gibbs realized that there were 20,000 tons of chemicals buried in the land around
them. But when her son came down with pneumonia and she learned that his school
was built right on top of another toxic waste dump, she organized herself and
her neighbors into environmental activism. Their fight against the companies responsible
for the toxic dumps lasted four years, but in the end, President Carter himself
stepped in and ordered that the 900 families living in Love Canal be paid to evacuate
their homes. Mrs. Gibbs and her neighbors brought about the beginnings of the
Superfund, which now exists to clean up hazardous material sites all around the
country. In 1981, Lois Gibbs created the Center for Health, Environment and Justice
which continues to help communities around the country to organize, research information,
and lobby for action.
Bio
© Larry Auld
