<P> Industry and tourism grew steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century due to a high demand for industrial products and the increased mobility of people to travel . Paper, rubber, plastics, petrochemicals, carbon insulators, and abrasives composed the city's major industries . This prosperity would end by the late 1960s as aging industrial plants moved to less expensive locations . </P> <P> At the time of the dump's closure in 1952, Niagara Falls was entering an economic boom, and the population began expanding dramatically, growing by 33% in twenty years (1940 - 1960) from 78,020 to 102,394 . </P> <P> By the turn of the 1940s, Hooker Chemical Company was searching for a place to dispose its large quantity of chemical waste . The Niagara Power and Development Company granted permission to Hooker in 1942 to dump wastes into the canal . The canal was drained and lined with thick clay . Into this site, Hooker began placing 55 - US - gallon (210 l) metal or fiber barrels . In 1947, Hooker bought the canal and the 70 - foot - wide (21 m) banks on either side of the canal . It subsequently converted it into a 16 - acre (6.5 ha) landfill . </P> <P> In 1948, the City of Niagara Falls ended self - sufficient disposal of refuse and Hooker Chemical became the sole user and owner of the site . </P>

What role did the love canal play in the modern environmental movement