Lois Gibbs: Grassroots Organizer and Environmental Health Advocate

Abstract

EVER SINCE HER FIRST FORAYS into health activism in 1978, Lois Gibbs has been an influential force in the environmental justice community. Known by many as “The Mother of Superfund,” she is credited for directly influencing such monumental pieces of legislation as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. Today she continues to help organize successful grassroots campaigns, many of which focus on protecting the health and safety of children and communities at risk, and she also empowers citizens throughout the country to advocate for a clean and healthy environment.1 Born Lois Marie Conn on June 25, 1951, Gibbs grew up with five siblings in the blue-collar community of Grand Island, New York. Her father, a bricklayer, worked in the steel mills, while her mother worked as a full-time homemaker. As a child, Gibbs was extremely shy; she did not participate in school activities or play sports but spent much of her free time enjoying her favorite hobby: sewing.2 Shortly after graduating from high school in 1969, she married her first husband, Harry Gibbs, a chemical worker. The couple had two children—Michael and Melissa—and in 1972 they moved into a three-bedroom home at Love Canal to live out the American dream. In the spring of 1978, Gibbs discovered that Hooker Chemical Corporation, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, had buried more than 20 000 tons of toxic chemical waste beneath the surface of her son's elementary school between 1920 and 1953 (before the Board of Education purchased the land for one dollar). The waste eventually permeated nearby stream beds—known as swales—and contaminated the local water supply, causing clusters of unexplainable illnesses and birth defects. Having identified toxic chemical exposure as the root of her community's ill health, the determined young mother transformed herself virtually overnight from a shy housewife into a strong-minded grassroots organizer.3 With only a high school education and no formal training, Gibbs founded the Love Canal Homeowner's Association (LCHA) in August 1978 and proceeded to organize rallies, raise money, conduct research, stage protests, utilize the media, make public speeches, and confront government bureaucracy in an attempt to win the ultimate goal of permanent relocation for all 900 Love Canal families. After two years of tireless effort, Gibbs and other LCHA members rejoiced as President Jimmy Carter announced on October 1, 1980, that the government would purchase all Love Canal homes at fair market value—a combined value of $15 million. Occidental Petroleum was later fined for contaminating the environment with hazardous wastes and ultimately paid $98 million to New York State and another $129 million to the federal government to cover relocation and cleanup costs.4,5 The victory at Love Canal instilled in the young mother the belief that ordinary citizens, when organized and determined, can collectively make significant change happen. After Gibbs and her husband divorced, she moved to Arlington, Virginia, in 1981 and founded the Citizen's Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste—now known as the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (CHEJ). Knowing what it was like to have limited resources in the face of an environmental crisis, Gibbs wished to provide aid to individuals and communities facing a toxic health threat by offering abundant educational, technical, and organizational support. Since its inception, CHEJ has assisted more than 10 000 grassroots groups in shutting down existing polluters and preventing hazardous waste disposal facilities from being built. CHEJ is also responsible for a number of successful campaigns, including the McToxics Campaign of 1987 that put an end to fast food restaurants’ use of Styrofoam packaging, the Stop Dioxin Campaign of 1995 that reduced dioxin emissions by 90%, and more recently the PVC Campaign of 2004 that exposed to the public the health hazards of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and convinced businesses such as Microsoft to use safer materials in their packaging and products.1 Gibbs has accomplished much since immersing herself in the environmental movement during the late 1970s. She has published many articles related to grassroots activism and environmental issues, as well as several books, including Love Canal: My Story (1982), Dying from Dioxin: A Citizen's Guide to Reclaiming Our Health and Rebuilding Democracy (1995), and Achieving the Impossible: Stories of Courage, Caring, and Community (2008). Moreover, Gibbs has received numerous awards for her environmental leadership, honorary degrees from three universities, and a nomination for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Her achievements continue to serve as a testament to the impact citizen activists can have on public health.