WEBVTT 00:01.733 --> 00:05.133 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% It was just such a nice neighborhood, we had fun there. 00:05.866 --> 00:09.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% A lot of times we would just be near the school playing baseball 00:10.100 --> 00:13.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but we always ended up near what we called the black lagoon. 00:13.900 --> 00:17.100 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% To a child, it was like a wonderland. 00:17.100 --> 00:19.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% We had these rocks that we called pop rocks. 00:19.866 --> 00:23.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We would just slide them across and they would actually have a flame. 00:24.366 --> 00:27.533 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% And I remember my mother always yelled about our shoes. 00:27.533 --> 00:32.100 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% This one time I came home and she said, “It looks like your sneakers are burnt. ” 00:32.300 --> 00:33.133 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% What are you doing? 00:33.133 --> 00:36.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'm just playing at the school. 00:39.700 --> 00:40.333 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65% The mighty waters 00:40.333 --> 00:41.333 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% of Niagara Falls, 00:41.666 --> 00:44.566 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% serve the needs of industry and the welfare of mankind. 00:44.766 --> 00:48.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Niagara Falls in the 1970s is synonymous with chemicals. 00:48.600 --> 00:52.500 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% It was called chemical row because there were so many manufacturers along there. 00:53.600 --> 00:55.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Chemical companies in Niagara Falls 00:55.300 --> 00:58.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and across the United States were burying their toxic waste. 00:58.400 --> 00:59.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But that was their backyard. 00:59.900 --> 01:02.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% The residents kids played in the canal. 01:02.166 --> 01:03.566 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% That's where they went. 01:03.566 --> 01:06.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% People had no idea that they were living on top of 01:06.000 --> 01:09.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals. 01:10.066 --> 01:13.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Today in Albany, the New York St Health Department declared a health emergency. 01:13.900 --> 01:15.900 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% Chemical waste is coming out of the ground. 01:15.900 --> 01:17.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Birth defects and miscarriages. 01:17.800 --> 01:19.833 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Severe migraine headaches, respiratory disease. 01:19.833 --> 01:22.700 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% Already, 8 cases of cancer in a 15 house street. 01:22.700 --> 01:25.733 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% It was hard to believe this could happen in the United States of America. 01:26.200 --> 01:29.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Each and every one of you in this room are murderers. 01:29.400 --> 01:32.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% It was doomed to be a screaming match right from the beginning. 01:32.866 --> 01:33.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Can you tell me when 01:34.500 --> 01:36.633 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% I'm not going to lose any more children because one is already dead. 01:36.633 --> 01:38.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It was like watching an accident 01:38.400 --> 01:39.533 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5% in slow motion. 01:40.366 --> 01:43.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There is no evidence to indicate an immediate health hazard to residents of the area. 01:43.766 --> 01:46.400 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% Residents at Love Canal really thought the government 01:46.400 --> 01:47.766 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% were going to rescue them. 01:47.766 --> 01:51.166 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% It really hit home for us that we have to make this happen 01:51.166 --> 01:52.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% They're not going to do it for us. 01:52.366 --> 01:54.833 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% So that spurred me to want to do something. 01:54.833 --> 01:57.100 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% We've got to do something. I mean, the fight came to us. 01:57.100 --> 01:58.300 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% We didnt look for it. 01:58.300 --> 02:00.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We protested literally every day 02:00.566 --> 02:05.200 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% The women told us that the state office had dismissed their study as useless housewife data 02:05.600 --> 02:07.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They thought we were useless housewives. 02:07.500 --> 02:09.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But we were stronger than that. 02:09.066 --> 02:11.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Those women kept that story out and they would come up 02:11.833 --> 02:14.100 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% with all different ways to get the cameras there. 02:14.100 --> 02:15.166 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% We want out! 02:15.733 --> 02:17.866 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% I wasnt thinking about building a movement or anything like that. 02:17.866 --> 02:20.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I was thinking about survival. 02:21.533 --> 02:22.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% This incredible group 02:22.766 --> 02:25.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% of women become the faces of environmental reform.