Hooker Chemical Corporation's full-page newspaper ad on Love Canal: 'Let's set the record straight'

Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corp.

Advertising, Newspaper

Mass media and propaganda

Hazardous waste sites

Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)

A black-and-white advertisement features a bold headline reading "LET'S SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT." Below, a block of text defends Hooker Chemical from allegations related to the Love Canal environmental disaster. The statement outlines the company's knowledge of chemical hazards at the site, their communication with local authorities, and claims that no cover-up occurred. At the bottom, "HOOKER" is written in large bold type with the tagline "Ask the people who know."

Ploughman, Penelope, 1955-

State University of New York at Buffalo. University Archives

State University of New York at Buffalo. University Libraries

1979-05-22

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image/jpeg

eng

Image

Text

MS100.493

2009-01-28

Love Canal Images. LIB-003

Penelope D. Ploughman Love Canal Collection. MS-0100

There have been charges and allegations that Hooker Chemicals “covered up” knowledge of health hazards at the Love Canal site 20 years ago. These charges are not true.

Here are the facts. In the late 1950s, there was some construction over the Love Canal site. And some of the buried chemicals were disturbed. Children playing in the construction area were burned by some of the chemicals and were treated accordingly.

We looked into the problem and advised the School Board, who owned the property, to take precautionary measures so that there would be no further accidents.

Did we know the chemicals were hazardous? We knew they could cause burns and that some of what was buried in the Love Canal site could be poisonous. But we did not have—nobody had—the knowledge of toxicity then that they have now.

One more thing. The main problem with the Love Canal site was chemicals seeping into the basements of homes bordering the Canal aea. There was no evidence of this happening back in the 50s; Hooker management had no evidence of this until 1976.

There was no cover-up in the 50s. There isn't one now. But there is a problem at the Love Canal and Hooker is very much concerned about it and wants to see it solved. Sensationalism and false accusations won't do that.

Hooker
Ask the people who know.