Love Canal and the return of paper prophets: a social critique of mainstream accounting

Abstract

USA is inflicting severe damage upon both the environment and its inhabitants. In 1979, the EPA estimated that in the USA there were as many as 51,000 sites containing potentially hazardous waste. The number of sites with ‘significant problems’ was anywhere. The EPA noted, “Industry has shown a laxity, not infrequently to the point of criminal neglect, in soiling the land and adulterating the waters with toxins”. The story of Love Canal is but one example of the consequences of inadequate waste disposal practices. Although usually portrayed as a failure of public policy and/or as a regulation or pollution problem, Love Canal was also an accounting problem.