Environmental Disasters that Shook the World
Love Canal
Love Canal is a neighborhood within Niagara Falls, New York. It is the site of a pollution disaster that extensively affected the health of hundreds of its residents, necessitating a Superfund cleanup operation.
Originally intended in the 1890s as a planned model community, Love Canal grew and then slowly declined before being bought out in the 1940s by the Hooker Company, which dumped industrial waste in the never completed canal.
In the late 1970s, Love Canal received national attention for the public health problem originating from the disposal of 22,000 barrels of toxic waste. Numerous families were displaced from their houses, which had been contaminated with chemicals and toxic waste. Many of the families suffered several health issues with common problems of high red blood cell counts and indications of leukemia. The entire neighborhood has since been demolished and a Superfund cleanup was only wrapped up in 2004.
New York State Health Department Commissioner David Axelrod calls the Love Canal incident a "national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concern for future generations". The Love Canal incident was especially significant as a situation where the inhabitants "overflowed into the wastes instead of the other way around"
Minamata Mecury Poisioning
Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which, when eaten by the local populace, resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig, and human deaths continued for 36 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution. The animal effects were severe enough in cats that they came to be named as having "dancing cat fever".
As of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognised as having Minamata disease (1,784 of whom had died) and over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso. By 2004, Chisso Corporation had paid $86 million in compensation, and in the same year was ordered to clean up its contamination. On March 29, 2010, a settlement was reached to compensate as-yet uncertified victims.
Love Canal is a neighborhood within Niagara Falls, New York. It is the site of a pollution disaster that extensively affected the health of hundreds of its residents, necessitating a Superfund cleanup operation.
Originally intended in the 1890s as a planned model community, Love Canal grew and then slowly declined before being bought out in the 1940s by the Hooker Company, which dumped industrial waste in the never completed canal.
In the late 1970s, Love Canal received national attention for the public health problem originating from the disposal of 22,000 barrels of toxic waste. Numerous families were displaced from their houses, which had been contaminated with chemicals and toxic waste. Many of the families suffered several health issues with common problems of high red blood cell counts and indications of leukemia. The entire neighborhood has since been demolished and a Superfund cleanup was only wrapped up in 2004.
New York State Health Department Commissioner David Axelrod calls the Love Canal incident a "national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concern for future generations". The Love Canal incident was especially significant as a situation where the inhabitants "overflowed into the wastes instead of the other way around"
Minamata Mecury Poisioning
Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which, when eaten by the local populace, resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig, and human deaths continued for 36 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution. The animal effects were severe enough in cats that they came to be named as having "dancing cat fever".
As of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognised as having Minamata disease (1,784 of whom had died) and over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso. By 2004, Chisso Corporation had paid $86 million in compensation, and in the same year was ordered to clean up its contamination. On March 29, 2010, a settlement was reached to compensate as-yet uncertified victims.
London Smog
The Great Smog of 1952, sometimes called The Big Smoke ,was a severe air-pollution event that affected the British capital of London in December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants – mostly arising from the use of coal – to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday, 5 December to Tuesday, 9 December 1952 and then dispersed quickly when the weather changed.
It caused major disruption by reducing visibility and even penetrating indoor areas, far more severe than previous smog events experienced in the past, called "pea-soupers". Government medical reports in the following weeks, however, estimated that up until 8 December, 4,000 people had died as a direct result of the smog and 100,000 more were made ill by the smog's effects on the human respiratory tract. More recent research suggests that the total number of fatalities was considerably greater, about 12,000.
Local Nigerian officials discovered the illegal toxic waste stored at the port of Koko. When the story broke in Italy, the Nigerian Embassy in Rome did not even inform the government in Lagos of the scam. That was left to some Nigerian students in Italy who phoned the Lagos daily, The Guardian, to trigger a reaction by President Babangida's regime. It was then discovered that the waste, which had been stocked at random under the tropical sun, was deadly: "Not only was there PCB, but also asbestos fiber and perhaps dioxin." Over 100 workers from the Nigerian Port Authority were employed to remove the wastes.
The Nigerian government supplied the workers with equipment, protective clothing, and gas masks, but the protective clothing was insufficient and many did not even have gloves to protect their hands. The wastes were more toxic than many had realized and many workers began needing hospitalization with problems ranging from chemical burns, nausea, to paralysis. Dr. Soloman Ogbemi, the senior medical officer at Koko General Hospital, declared that the "seven premature births that occurred within a one two-week period in July were due to the high toxicity of the dumpsite." Eventually, the Italian government agreed to pay the cost of returning the wastes back to Italy, at least until they could determine the guilty parties.
As a result, in July of 1988, two ships, the KARIN B and the DEEPSEA CARRIER, began the process of carrying the wastes from Nigeria back to Italy. While in route back to Italy, the Italian Environment Minister, Giorgio Ruffolo, announced the Italian ports designated to accept the wastes as the Tuscan port of Livorno and either Ravenna or Manfredonia Harbour in the South Adriatic. The former was to accept the wastes from the KARIN B and the latter was to accept the wastes from the DEEPSEA CARRIER. However, the announcement resulted in protests, strikes and blockades in all three ports in an attempt to prevent the waste from being unloaded. (After its arrival in Italy the KARIN B was refused entry into Livorno when water samples taken from the surrounding area showed traces of toxins leaking from the ship.)
Deep Water Horizon Oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo blowout) began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. Eleven people went missing and were never found and it is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, an estimated 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previously largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill. The US Government estimated the total discharge at 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m3). After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on September 19, 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated the well site was still leaking.
A massive response ensued to protect beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil utilizing skimmer ships, floating booms, controlled burns and 1.84 million US gallons (7,000 m3) of Corexit oil dispersant. Due to the months-long spill, along with adverse effects from the response and cleanup activities, extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and fishing and tourism industries was reported. In Louisiana, 4.9 million pounds (2.09 million kg) of oily material was removed from the beaches in 2013, over double the amount collected in 2012. Oil cleanup crews worked four days a week on 55 miles of Louisiana shoreline throughout 2013. Oil continued to be found as far from the Macondo site as the waters off the Florida Panhandle and Tampa Bay, where scientists said the oil and dispersant mixture is embedded in the sand. In 2013 it was reported that dolphins and other marine life continued to die in record numbers with infant dolphins dying at six times the normal rate. One study released in 2014 reported that tuna and amber jack that were exposed to oil from the spill developed deformities of the heart and other organs that would be expected to be fatal or at least life-shortening and another study found that cardiotoxicity might have been widespread in animal life exposed to the spill.
The Great Smog of 1952, sometimes called The Big Smoke ,was a severe air-pollution event that affected the British capital of London in December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants – mostly arising from the use of coal – to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday, 5 December to Tuesday, 9 December 1952 and then dispersed quickly when the weather changed.
It caused major disruption by reducing visibility and even penetrating indoor areas, far more severe than previous smog events experienced in the past, called "pea-soupers". Government medical reports in the following weeks, however, estimated that up until 8 December, 4,000 people had died as a direct result of the smog and 100,000 more were made ill by the smog's effects on the human respiratory tract. More recent research suggests that the total number of fatalities was considerably greater, about 12,000.
London had suffered from poor air quality since the 1200s, which worsened in the 1600s, but the Great Smog is known to be the worst air-pollution event in the history of the United Kingdom, and the most significant in terms of its effect on environmental research, government regulation, and public awareness of the relationship between air quality and health. It led to several changes in practices and regulations, including the Clean Air Act 1956.
Koko Toxic waste dump in Nigeria
Koko Toxic waste dump in Nigeria
Local Nigerian officials discovered the illegal toxic waste stored at the port of Koko. When the story broke in Italy, the Nigerian Embassy in Rome did not even inform the government in Lagos of the scam. That was left to some Nigerian students in Italy who phoned the Lagos daily, The Guardian, to trigger a reaction by President Babangida's regime. It was then discovered that the waste, which had been stocked at random under the tropical sun, was deadly: "Not only was there PCB, but also asbestos fiber and perhaps dioxin." Over 100 workers from the Nigerian Port Authority were employed to remove the wastes.
As a result, in July of 1988, two ships, the KARIN B and the DEEPSEA CARRIER, began the process of carrying the wastes from Nigeria back to Italy. While in route back to Italy, the Italian Environment Minister, Giorgio Ruffolo, announced the Italian ports designated to accept the wastes as the Tuscan port of Livorno and either Ravenna or Manfredonia Harbour in the South Adriatic. The former was to accept the wastes from the KARIN B and the latter was to accept the wastes from the DEEPSEA CARRIER. However, the announcement resulted in protests, strikes and blockades in all three ports in an attempt to prevent the waste from being unloaded. (After its arrival in Italy the KARIN B was refused entry into Livorno when water samples taken from the surrounding area showed traces of toxins leaking from the ship.)
In December of 1988 workers began unloading the KARIN B. The containers of waste were transported to a warehouse until they could be identified, after which they would be repackaged and shipped off to a temporary storage place in the Emilia Romagna area of Italy. In January of 1989 the first wastes left Livorno. The DEEPSEA CARRIER, on the other hand, was still held at bay, with its crew sequestered on board, until August of 1989 when the ship was finally allowed to unload in Livorno.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo blowout) began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. Eleven people went missing and were never found and it is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, an estimated 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previously largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill. The US Government estimated the total discharge at 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m3). After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on September 19, 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated the well site was still leaking.
A massive response ensued to protect beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil utilizing skimmer ships, floating booms, controlled burns and 1.84 million US gallons (7,000 m3) of Corexit oil dispersant. Due to the months-long spill, along with adverse effects from the response and cleanup activities, extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and fishing and tourism industries was reported. In Louisiana, 4.9 million pounds (2.09 million kg) of oily material was removed from the beaches in 2013, over double the amount collected in 2012. Oil cleanup crews worked four days a week on 55 miles of Louisiana shoreline throughout 2013. Oil continued to be found as far from the Macondo site as the waters off the Florida Panhandle and Tampa Bay, where scientists said the oil and dispersant mixture is embedded in the sand. In 2013 it was reported that dolphins and other marine life continued to die in record numbers with infant dolphins dying at six times the normal rate. One study released in 2014 reported that tuna and amber jack that were exposed to oil from the spill developed deformities of the heart and other organs that would be expected to be fatal or at least life-shortening and another study found that cardiotoxicity might have been widespread in animal life exposed to the spill.
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