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Love Canal 40 Years Later
Stories from the WBFO newsroom on the 40th anniversary of Love Canal being named a federal health emergency.

Reporter's Notebook: Love Canal sparked a change in environmental coverage

WBFO-FM 88.7 | By Mike Desmond,
Jay Moran
Published August 6, 2018 at 11:28 AM EDT
Center for Health, Environment & Justice

It was 40 years ago this week when federal officials declared the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, NY a disaster area. In the first of a series of "Reporter's Notebook" stories reflecting on behind the scenes of that infamous period in Western New York history, WBFO's Mike Desmond talks with Morning Host Jay Moran about covering the story for the former Courier-Express newspaper.

The Love Canal story prompted the newspaper's editors to send the young reporter to explore environmental hot spots all over the country. That reporting was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
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Environment Mike DesmondLove CanalBuffalo Courier-ExpressReporter's NotebookLove Canal 40
Mike Desmond
Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.
See stories by Mike Desmond
Jay Moran
Monday - Friday, 6 a.m. - 10 a.m.

Jay joined Buffalo Toronto Public Media in 2008 and has been local host for NPR's "Morning Edition" ever since. In June, 2022, he was named one of the co-hosts of WBFO's "Buffalo, What's Next."

A graduate of St. Mary's of the Lake School, St. Francis High School and Buffalo State College, Jay has worked most of his professional career in Buffalo. Outside of public media, he continues in longstanding roles as the public address announcer for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and as play-by-play voice of Canisius College basketball.
See stories by Jay Moran