I think leaded paint chips probably did more harm than gasoline.

 

I spent 10 years reviewing and litigating environmental clean up claims made by the polluters against their insurance companies. Over time, the law evolved to to find coverage for the polluter's clean-up costs, despite the fact that all the polluting was intentional and the policies excluded damages caused by intentional acts. There were three or four other provisions, like the exception for contamination arising from sudden and accidental events that got stretched beyond all recognition to provide coverage. Bottom line is that many of the polluters didn't have to pay the full freight for the damage they caused.

 

There was a piece of land in a town I used to live in that had been empty for a very long time. It was an old oil company and the ground was full of spilled oil. They had gone out of business and the way it worked, apparently if you bought the land you were responsible for the cleanup, thus as far as I know it sits unoccupied today.

 

Don't bet on it.

https://www.thenation.com/article/ar...-history-lead/

 

This is true. State and federal law holds any past or present owner responsible for the clean up if they owned the land when and after it was first polluted. Only those who owned the land prior to the first discharge can escape liability.

 

I recall as a kid, hearing about Love Canal Niagara Falls, N.Y , which is a super scary place. They said a few shovel-fulls of some of the chemicals dumped in Love Canal are enough to kill large populations, and being in the Niagara area they could easily seep into the water system. We only live 2 hours from the region. Chemicals oozing out of the area decades after.

https://nypost.com/2013/11/02/love-c...5-years-later/

 

Good article and certainly long enough.