Did you know? Today (March 28, 2022) marks the 43rd anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in Pennsylvania? And just a few short years later, Western New York would face its own manmade disaster when in 1977, it was discovered that over 200 toxic chemical compounds were seeping through the ground and into the basements and water of residents living in an area of Niagara Falls called "Love Canal," causing abnormally high rates of cancers and stillbirths and abnormalities of children born in the area. At the same time, a growing awareness about another potentially hazardous nuclear waste site in Western New York was capturing attention, and is today current topic of concern in the region: The West Valley Nuclear Demonstration Project, as seen in New York State Historic Newspapers.

Both the Love Canal Images from the University at Buffalo Archives and local television news broadcast video from the Buffalo Broadcasters Association Archives - both collections in New York Heritage - capture some of the often tense and heartbreaking stories from the past that are still being told today - in places like Flint, Michigan and its contaminated water supply, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill off the Gulf of Mexico, and the Mississippi Delta Dead Zone. Here is an interesting site about man-made disasters called Owlcation. 

The fact is, man-made disasters did exist, still exist, and will continue to exist - this cannot be changed. How we view them and respond to them - and maybe even prevent some - is what can be changed, and can be informed in part with our knowledge of past events. Educators can use these resources to show students that civic action and civic discourse can be successful and impactful. That people, just like them, can make a difference. Maybe start a lesson by offering them both sides of an argument such as this one where Forbes comes out pro-nuclear and Thunberg anti-nuclear:  nuclear waste    New York State   (https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2020/02/17/if-they-are-so-alarmed-by-climate-change-why-are-they-so-opposed-to-solving-it/?sh=5c0458b36b75 and https://www.bmk.gv.at/dam/jcr:8f7d896c-c5ab-47f0-a6e2-04f35779b570/nuclear-power-plants_climate-killers.pdf

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