The Nation - News from Aug. 8, 1989

Preliminary test results show that toxins have seeped into at least six homes in a Niagara Falls, N.Y., neighborhood near chemically poisoned Love Canal, a federal official said, and plans were under way to evacuate the residents eventually. Dust samples taken last week from floors and furniture inside six of the 51 house trailers and two permanent homes in the 11-acre Forest Glen section show “some contamination,” Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Michael Basile said. Basile said the exact type of toxins found in the homes had not been established because the testing of the samples has not been completed. Nearly two weeks ago the EPA told 150 residents of Forest Glen that toxins--including aniline, a possible human carcinogen--were found seeping through the ground much like at Love Canal 11 years ago. The chemicals were dumped at the site by about a half-dozen companies between 1966 and 1972.