Lois Gibbs thought she had achieved the American Dream.
"At the ripe old age of 27, I had a house, a husband that was gainfully employed, a 1-year-old healthy child, a picket fence, a station wagon and HBO - I had it all," she said, before joking, "but actually my child was really ugly but he got handsome later. But I thought he was beautiful at the time."
But that all changed for Gibbs - a resident of the southeast section of the La Salle area of Niagara falls that is better known as the Love Canal neighborhood - when her son came down with a series of illnesses, including epilepsy, a urinary tract infection, a liver problem, an immune system problem.
It wasn't clear where all of these health problems were coming from. Both Gibbs and her husband were healthy. Then, as time went on, things got worse.
She noticed a bruise on her 3-year-old daughter's skin. Then, another bruise and another. She took her daughter to a pediatrician. The little girl was diagnosed with leukemia.
"The doctor says, 'Mrs. Gibbs, because Melissa's blood count is so critical, we don't want to give her heavy anesthetics in order to do this test.' And what this test is: they insert a needle into her hip and withdraw some bone marrow ... to determine whether or not she has leukemia. So, what they wanted me to do was go in and calm her down and hold her down while they perform this procedure."
She went on, "Melissa, who is a toddler, 3-years-old, is screaming her head off - just screaming at the top of her lungs - because she's so frightened And as she screamed, her nose was hemorrhaging, her gums were hemorrhaging, even the blood vessels in her cheeks broke open. I walked over and tried to calm my daughter down, and I looked at the blood, and I said, 'I couldn't do it.'
"I tell you this story not because my children suffered more than others. They didn't. They survived. I tell you this story because... while children were dying in Love Canal, the city of Niagara Falls, the county of Niagara, the state of New York and the Environmental Protection Agency at the federal level all knew it. They knew it and they made a conscious and deliberate decision to allow our families to get sick and allow our families to die. How dare they?"
Decisions like that are made every day in this country, she said.
Gibbs did her research and found 20,000 tons of chemicals were dumped in the Love Canal area. She found the information in the newspaper. It didn't come from a government; it came from the Niagara Gazette. With her son's school situated very close to the dump, Gibbs became enraged.
Especially upsetting for Gibbs was the cost-benefit analysis that was conducted to support the decision of government agencies to do nothing.
Remediation was expected to cost $20 million. "Then, they look at the benefit. And how they determine the benefit is the way they figure it out even today, so they looked at the incomes of the families that lived at Love Canal," she said. "The benefits of human life is based on how much money you make. ... Nobody puts a dollar sign on my kids' heads."
She took action.
After speaking to the school board, the mayor and the state health department, "they all dismissed me as an irate, hysterical housewife, and I just have to say, when somebody is trying to kill you, the normal reaction is to become hysterical. ... When you go alone it's easy to be dismissed," she said. "As a result, we formed the Love Canal Homeowners' Association. We joined together, and we became a political force."
The homeowners' association only won relocation from Love Canal, Gibbs said, because they made their lives and their families' lives a political issue.
Gibbs is a classic example of the adage, "One person can make a difference." She saw injustice, stood up and made a difference.
CALL FOR STUDENTS
Delivering her speech in the Rosch Recital Hall on the SUNY Fredonia campus, Gibbs called on the students in attendance to take action, to stand up against the injustices of this generation.
"Our environment, our world, needs young people to stand up as they have done in the past. We are at a critical juncture," she said, adding, "It's really going to take the young people of today to tip the balance, to change what is going on. ... It's a heavy load, but it's your turn."
A woman who has initiated change and has done the research, Gibbs said young people are in a unique position to push for positive change in the business world.
"We found out from Intimate brand, which is a huge corporation that owns Victoria's Secret and Bath an Body Works is that consumers between the ages of 18 and 25 really develop their brand loyalties. So, corporations are really concerned about brand loyalty development at this age group. When campus groups write to Target, or Victoria's Secret, or whatever project, it has way more weight than if I was to write or anyone else who is over the age of 25.
"So, this campus and campuses across the country, they have the most power, but unfortunately, they don't exercise it enough."
WNY ISSUES
While Gibbs now works in the greater Washington, D.C. area, she made it clear people don't need to go to the nation's capital, or even the state's capital, to initiate a fight for progress. There is plenty to be done locally.
She cited the West Valley radioactive waste site, the coal-fired power plant and the deposit of ash on local roads as local issues that could be addressed.
"It's not just thinking about what are the bad things that we need to deal with and take care of, but we really need to look to the future about how do we grow the economy in a way that's sustainable."
The NRG Generating Station in Dunkirk is a major contributor of taxes to the city and county. It's also the employer of many local people. There are significant economic concerns involved in all decisions made at the facility.
Gibbs agreed it would not be a wise decision to simply close the facility. What must be done, she said, is devising a plan for what could take the place of the coal-burning power plant, both in terms of tax contributions and jobs.
"Often what people just talk about is, 'let's close this because it's nasty,'" Gibbs said, "and there's not an equal conversation about what can we open. I think that's where the fatal flaw is in most planning groups."
CAMPUS RESPONSE
Students found Gibbs's message to be inspiring. They agreed that it is their generations turn to initiate positive societal change.
"I think it is time for us to step up," said Danielle Kaus, a junior early childhood education major. "We're very capable. With the whole investment in technology of our generation and even younger generations and the whole idea of new energy, we can really be the change in that. We just have to find a new way to motivate ourselves."
"I've been thinking about it that way for a long time, and I don't know why I assumed that responsibility," said Susan Kornacki, a senior with a double major in English and art. "I guess because it seems relevant to me and it affects all of our lifestyles. I guess it's a little scary because it seems like a big job, but from my experience with the environmental movement, I've realized that there are a lot of really passionate and intelligent and self-sacrificing people involved, so I feel like I'm in good company and part of a good community. So, I have faith in us."
David Rankin, chair of the Political Science Department and director of the Fredonia Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Center, thought it was a great honor to have Gibbs speak to students and the community on the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day.
Hers is "a focus that's very much in sync with the mission of the FACE Center recently established to forge and facilitate campus and community partnerships across sustainability objectives, service and civic awareness and engagement," Rankin said. He added, "And what an honor it is to have her with us on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day to discuss how we can educate the public on the Love Canals of today."
In addition to being the keynote speaker for SUNY Fredonia's Earth Week celebration, Gibbs was the Maytum Convocation Lecturer. The Convocation Committee, which each year sets up a series of events that revolve around a specific topic, felt that Gibbs exemplified this year's theme - "Public Service: Challenges and Opportunities"
The speech was just one part of the Earth Day - which has become Earth Week and at SUNY Fredonia this year, it is "Earth Week and a half" - celebrations coordinated by campus officials.
Thursday, SUNY Fredonia asked local businesses to "Shake the Habit" of plastic bags. A number of businesses participated and agreed to not use plastic bags for the full day.
In welcoming the audience to Gibbs's speech, SUNY Fredonia President Dennis Hefner reminded those in attendance to join the campus in shaking the habit of plastic bags.
"Please remember to shake the habit," Hefner said, holding up a green, reusable tote bag, "and go green."
To find a full schedule of Earth Week events organized by SUNY Fredonia, visit www.fredonia.edu/earthweek.
You can learn more about Love Canal by visiting the Web site of the state Department of Health. There, you will find follow-up health studies and the original reports from the late 1970s and early '80s. Visit: www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/investigations/love-canal.
For information on Gibbs's current projects and the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, visit www.chej.org.
