The volume of this oil spill was more than six times greater than the Exxon Valdez spill. Lack of clear authority regarding corrective action resulted in almost all of its sixty-nine million gallons of oil being spilled. On March...
Environmental / Ecological Archive
Love Canal Contamination – New York – August 2, 1978
Major health problems arose from a new subdivision on an old industrial site No adequate examination of an old waste dump adjoining Niagara Falls, before a new subdivision was developed, led to a large number of homes being declared...
Alaska Oil Spill – March 24, 1989
From the moment an oil tanker arrived at the port of Valdez to load oil, every aspect of the operation had to be carefully watched to ensure a safe exit for the fully loaded ship. In this case several...
Seveso Dioxin Spill – Italy – July 10, 1976
Due to faulty understanding of the chemical processes involved, workers allowed substantial quantities of dioxin to escape into the community of Seveso. This accidental release of dioxin had a revolutionary and costly series of consequences for the people of...
London Suffocating Smog – England – December 5, 1952
London’s nine million residents were almost totally immobilized for four days as a thick smog smothered the city and killed 4,000 people. From the fifth to the ninth of December 1952, a mass of dry, cold air settled over...
Bikini Atoll Nuclear Tests – Marshall Islands – February 1, 1946
Shortly after the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy decided to carry out a series of atomic bomb tests on different kinds of ships. Bikini Atoll in the Central Pacific was chosen for these tests and the...