Thundering WatersThe Toxic Legacy of Niagara CountyInspired by Christen Civiletto's book
Tap a tab below to explore the data
Hazard site points▾
Every documented contaminated site in Niagara County, each dot coloured by its regulatory programme. Turn the layer on or off, or show/hide individual programme types below — the list doubles as the colour legend.
Filter by site type▾
Show or hide sites by regulatory programme. The colour swatches are also the map's colour key.
Area layers▾
Shaded areas rather than points. Contamination by tract shades each census tract by the share of its land that is contaminated; the impact zone outlines the Niagara Falls area where most sites cluster. Each legend appears automatically when you switch its layer on.
Share of tract land contaminated
0%3.6%9.9%20%55%+
Niagara Falls impact-zone perimeter — the concentration area holding most documented sites.
Water & Infrastructure▾
Base-map context: the Niagara River, creeks and water bodies near monitoring sites, plus the county's major roads.
Cancer Incidence · SIR
Block-group Standardized Incidence Ratio (observed ÷ expected), NYSDOH 2011–2015. These six are statistically elevated countywide (95% CI > 1). Select one:
Filter Sites by Chemical
Shows sites that list the selected contaminant. Reflects recorded chemicals (122 of 256 sites list any).
Radioactive · Nuclear Legacy
18 sites with radioactive contamination. FUSRAP isotope tags are DOE/USACE‑sourced; TENORM = industrial radioactive slag.
Well layers▾
Each water droplet is a well or sampling station — a blood-red core (contamination), sized by the number of chemicals detected, with a ring colour showing what it samples (see “Filter by sampling type”). The three toggles choose the data source; legacy wells' popups carry a ⚑ approximate-location note.
Filter by sampling type▾
Ring colour = what the point samples. Show or hide by type — bedrock vs. overburden groundwater, surface water, or remediation/recovery — across all sources at once.
Filter by chemical & year▾
Pick a chemical to show only wells where it was detected; add a year to show wells where it was detected by that year or earlier — a contaminant's spread appears as more wells light up as the year advances.
Shows wells where the selected contaminant was detected. Turn a well layer on above to see results.
Pick a year to see which wells had a chemical detected by that year or earlier.
Site-specific views▾
A few sites report data that doesn't fit the chemical dropdown, so they get their own views.
S-Area — intensity over time
S-Area's 184 wells report Total Organic Concentration, not named chemicals. Pick a year to colour wells by the latest TOC reading known by that year.
Love Canal — detail layers
Piezometers measure groundwater levels (not contaminants) — click one for its water-level plot (ft above sea level, one line per geologic layer, 2015–2022). Pumps & tanks are the containment collection infrastructure.