The possible listing of the Halaco slag heap as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency is another critically important step toward restoring the Ormond Beach wetlands.

However, anything short of clearing out the toxic waste in the area would be a shortsighted effort that could create another Love Canal.

The history is worth reviewing.

Beginning in 1920, Love Canal was used by the city of Niagara Falls as a landfill for chemical waste. Hooker Chemical, an Occidental Petroleum subsidiary, acquired the land in 1947 and buried more than 20,000 tons of waste there before capping it with "impermeable" clay. The site was thought to be ideal for chemical waste disposal because the surrounding ground itself was clay.

The city of Niagara Falls, looking for land to build a school, pressured Hooker Chemical to sell the land. Hooker resisted, citing safety reasons, but finally, in 1953, under threat of appropriation, Hooker Chemical granted the city the land for $1, with a caveat that it could not be held responsible for damages to health or life or for loss of property.

The city then built the school directly on top of the former chemical landfill. During construction, the clay cap Hooker Chemical had built was broken. Development in the area continued with construction of sewers to serve hundreds of single-family homes and low-income apartment buildings. In the process, the clay cap was again broken, allowing chemicals to seep from the canal.

For decades, area residents complained of strange odors. Eventually, in March of 1978, the New York State Department of Health began testing in the basements of neighboring homes. Their study of the 239 families encircling the canal found an increase in reproductive problems, including a heartbreaking number of miscarriages and birth defects, and high levels of chemical contaminants in soil and air. They ordered an evacuation of those at highest risk.

Love Canal Homeowners Association President Lois Gibbs began a campaign that brought her to national prominence when, in 1980, President Carter declared the area a federal emergency. Federal investigators were then able to determine that chemicals from the waste dump had leached into basements and evaporated into household air. Eventually, 800 residents were moved and compensated for the loss of their homes, Congress passed the Superfund law that holds polluters accountable, and the EPA sued Occidental Petroleum, which in 1995 agreed to pay $129 million in damages.

Eckardt C. Beck, administrator of EPA Region 2 from 1977 to 1979, wrote in the EPA Journal in January 1979: "Quite simply, Love Canal is one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history. But that's not the most disturbing fact. What is worse is that it cannot be regarded as an isolated event. It could happen again anywhere in this country unless we move expeditiously to prevent it."

In his commentary, published on the EPA Web site, he said: "We suspect that there are hundreds of such chemical dumpsites across this nation. Unlike Love Canal, few are situated so close to human settlements. But without a doubt, many of these old dumpsites are time bombs with burning fuses their contents slowly leaching out. And the next victim could be a water supply, or a sensitive wetland."

That's what's happening at Ormond Beach. No protective barrier was placed under the Halaco heap, and it is now impossible to prevent the chemicals from seeping out from underneath into the groundwater, lagoon and marshes that surround it.

Further, we must anticipate rising ocean water levels. A report by the United Nations climate panel released last month cited six models with core projections of sea level rises ranging from 11 to almost 17 inches by 2100.

Another major problem with capping the Halaco heap is the "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" phenomenon of human nature. People will forget, overlook or be at best minimally informed of what lies beneath the cap.

For the sake of the biological resources at Ormond, it's absurd to consider allowing residential use so close to an environmentally sensitive habitat area. Dogs, cats, children and endangered species don't mix. Such a use would prevent Ormond from becoming authentic habitat restoration. Instead, it would become what Rimmon Fay, Ph.D., has referred to as a "landscaping project."

As we are frequently told, those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it. Let us not repeat Love Canal at Ormond Beach. Move the heap.

Janet Bridgers, of Oxnard, is founder/director of Earth Alert. Its Web site is http://www.earthalert.org.