American Experience (1988)

Episode Overview

This powerful and uplifting tale follows a group of everyday women who bravely stood up against daunting challenges to protect their families' health and well-being. In the late 1970s, residents of Love Canal, a working-class area in Niagara Falls, New York, uncovered the shocking truth that their homes, schools, and parks were constructed on an old toxic waste site, which was now contaminating their lives. Through interviews with remarkable housewives who became activists, the film reveals how they took on powerful interests, compelled the nation to confront the human toll of unchecked industry, and sparked a grassroots movement that led to the historic Superfund Bill.