Love Canal ActivistTo Speak

A renowned environmentalist noted for her stand against governmental apathy will offer her advice Tuesday to students interested in tackling environmental issues.

Lois Gibbs, founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice and former resident of Love Canal, N.Y., a notorious toxic waste dumping site, will speak at the Student Union at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The speech will be free and open to the public.

UNC's Student Environmental Action Coalition first suggested that Gibbs be invited to campus, but the group could not fund the event alone.

"We wanted to bring her because we feel she touches upon a lot of issues that are important to the campus - both environmental issues and justice issues," said Kristen Kerr, a junior from Greensboro and co-chairwoman of SEAC.

The Carolina Environmental Program, the Carolina Environmental Student Alliance, the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network and the Black Student Movement gathered the funds necessary to bring Gibbs to campus.

Gibbs first caught the public's eye in the late 1970s, when she rallied other housewives in Love Canal to press the government to investigate the high rates of miscarriages, birth defects and childhood cancer in their community.

Authorities then discovered that most of Love Canal, a middle-class town, had been built on a toxic waste dump.

After further studies, former President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order to move all the families and reimburse them for medical damages.

Gibbs soon became largely responsible for the implementation of the "Superfund Act," which, among other things, forces the government to assess toxic or hazardous waste sites and set aside money for cleaning them.

Linda Chupkowski, a senior psychology major and co-chairwoman of SEAC, said she first saw Gibbs speak at a conference last fall in Philadelphia, which prompted her to bring Gibbs to campus.

"Many of us went to Econference (in Philadelphia) a year ago, and (Gibbs) was there, and she was a phenomenal speaker," Chupkowski said.

Tuesday night, Gibbs will discuss how citizens can take on a major corporation and win. She will also raise the issue that poor, black communities are disproportionally targeted for the construction of toxic waste dumps, incinerators and polluting manufacturing plants.

Kerr said she hopes Gibbs will have a positive impact on her listeners. "I think it will inspire people," she said. "A lot of times people think there's nothing we can do (to fight environmental injustice), but by looking at her story you can see that we can make a difference."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.