1. A few environmental disasters in the U. S
A few environmental disasters in the U.S. that led to new federal and state laws to control pollution:
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2. The image that inspired the environmental movement in 1969

4. Major U.S. Air Pollution Episodes of Historic Significance
U.S. air quality degraded with the beginning of the industrial revolution
Coal burning in Central and Midwest U.S.
1948 Donora, PA in the Monongahela River Valley
Prompted Air Pollution Control Act of 1955
Ignored automobiles
1960s - NYC had several severe smog episodes
1950s onward – LA had many smog alerts from increase in industry and motor vehicle use
Led to passage of Clean Air Act of 1970 updated 1977 & 1990

5. Deadly Inversion in Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948
Twenty people died and approximately 7,000 or 50% of the population, experienced acute illness during the week of Oct. 25, 1948 when temperature inversion and air stagnation occurred.

6. Hydrogen fluoride and sulfur dioxide emissions from U. S
Hydrogen fluoride and sulfur dioxide emissions from U.S. Steel's Donora Zinc Works and its American Steel & Wire plant were frequent occurrences in Donora.
What made the 1948 event more severe was a temperature inversion, a situation in which warmer air aloft traps pollution in a layer of colder air near the surface. The pollutants in the air mixed with fog to form a thick, yellowish, acid smog that hung over Donora for five days.

8. U.S. Air Pollution Examples
Smog in San Gabriel Valley, 1972 (Photo: EPA) and smog in New York City, 1963 (Photo: AP)

9. Air Pollution in Grand Canyon

10. Chicago

11. The Cuyahoga River Fires Cuyahoga River is located in the city of Cleveland, Ohio
Because of the factories and the natural waste from coal, the river began to get polluted
As more and more people began to move to Cleveland, the Cuyahoga became their dump.
Trash, waste, and even raw sewage went into the water. However, the main pollutant was oil from the factories.
There was no one there to regulate what people were throwing into the river.
The Cuyahoga was eventually described as a “flowing dump.”

12. The first documented time the River caught fire was in 1936, when a spark from a blowtorch ignited it.
This would not be the last fire for the river.

15. The 1952 Fire
No one is sure exactly what started the blaze. Some think it was started by someone throwing a lit cigarette into the water and others think it was started by sparks from a passing train.
This was the most costly blaze for Cleveland, causing nearly $1.5 million in damages, mostly to rail lines held above the water.
Even with statewide coverage of the event, there was not much outrage over the 1952 fire. The reasons for this are:
Environmentalism was taking a back seat to consumerism
Environmentalism was taking a back seat to global affairs

16. It was not until June of 1969 that the River would catch on fire again
It was not until June of 1969 that the River would catch on fire again. However, this time the world would eventually take notice. Below is the only picture taken of that fire.

17. Initial public reaction and then Time magazine
Even though a river was so polluted that it caught fire, many people took a while to notice.
The picture only ran in two papers the next day.
It was not until a month later, when Time Magazine ran an article, that the world was shown the picture of the fire.

18. This led directly to the creation of the Clean Water Act:
Members of Congress respond with new legislation to regulate water pollution
Perhaps the most important thing the 1969 fire provided was a crystal clear example that the state of the environment was in disrepair.
This led directly to the creation of the Clean Water Act:
Regulates the amounts and types of discharges into water.
Made it illegal to dump toxins into water.
Funded the construction of sewage treatment plants.
Passed in 1972 with major changes in 1981 and 1987

20. The Santa Barbara oil spill occurred in January and February 1969 in the Santa Barbara Channel, near the city of Santa Barbara in Southern California. It was the largest oil spill in United States waters at the time, and now ranks third after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez spills.

21. The public outrage
engendered by the spill,
which received prominent
media coverage in the U.S.
resulted in numerous pieces
of environmental legislation
within the next several years, legislation that forms the legal and regulatory framework for the modern environmental movement in the U.S.

22. Use of booms to contain oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara

23. Acid Rain in the Northeast

26. Androscoggin River Lewiston, Maine

27. Typical drainpipe and wastes dumped into rivers in the U.S.

28. Kansas City, Missouri in the 1970s

29. Nuclear Power Plants

30. Anti-nuclear protests – Clamshell Alliance

35. Hudson River, New York, 1970s

36. Hudson River Pollution, 1970

38. Earth First: Eco-Defense Approach

44. Lake Erie, 1970s

45. Three Mile Island Harrisburg, Pennsylvania