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Join Wundry Plus in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's January 1979 in Albany, New York.

Dr David Axelrod is in his office at the New York State Health Department,

reading through a mountain of memos stacked on his desk.

As the recently appointed health commissioner, he's already overwhelmed by his new workload.

Today alone, he's received a report about a state hospital that's infested with roaches and another one about a nursing home that's neglecting its patients.

And for the people caught up in these crises, things can get emotional.

But as Axelrod flips through the pages of each report,

he reminds himself that it's his job to make sure that the government's response is dictated by science.

He hears a knock on his door and looks up to see one of his deputies carrying a binder as

thick as a phone book, the analysis of the health questionnaires and medical tests conducted

on the Love Canal residence.

Axelrod eagerly reaches for the binder.

Love Canal is one of the biggest problems facing the State Health Department.

It's an old chemical waste site in Niagara Falls, and the toxins buried there have started to leak

out, angering residents. Nearly every day furious locals call his office demanding more action

from the state. They interrupt community meetings and give

fiery interviews to the press. But as far as Dr. Axelrod is concerned, the state has acted

appropriately with the information it has. They've started a cleanup and paid to move

residents who lived in the areas where there was proof that the chemicals were causing harm.

On top of that, the state has continued to search for evidence that the chemicals are affecting other people who live near Love Canal.

They have conducted thousands of surveys, tested the soil and the air, collected hair and blood samples.

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