e end of the period (http://onlineethics.org/environment/lcanal/timeline.html). The toxic chemicals were dumped, usually, in metal drums, which were often old and rusted, or in fiber drums. The drums sometimes broke apart as they were being dumped and sometimes chemical wastes were even dumped directly into the canal.
             As early as April 1945, an internal Hooker memo written by an engineer wrote that Love Canal is a "Quagmire, which will be a potential source of lawsuits" (Williamson and Saigo). Hooker closed the dump in 1953(http://onlineethics.org/environment/lcanal/timeline.html). On several occasions during the dumping period, employees of Hooker visited the site and reported to management that the water throughout the canal was contaminated and children were swimming in the sections, which were not being used for disposal. Despite strong advice by its own employees that a fence be constructed to prevent injuries to the children, Hooker did not fence in the canal. Also during this time, Hooker knew that, as a result of the way the drums and wastes were dumped in the canal and pits, the drums were deteriorating, and would continue to deteriorate, and the subsurface would shift, causing a collapse of the surface. Hooker also knew that when the surface fell in, the drums and wastes would become exposed further endangering children and others.
             Finally, fires and explosions occurred in the canal, shooting flames as high as the homes that were built next to the canal. Throughout the post-war period, more and more residences were being built in the area. (http://www.tourolaw.edu/Publications/EnvironmentalLJ/vol1/part3.html) In 1952, Hooker was approached by the School Board, which wanted to buy a part of the Love Canal property (the Central Section where no dumping had occurred) in order to build a new grade school (http://onlineethics.org/environment/lcanal/timeline.html). As the population of Niagara Falls grew, the local school boar...