Environmental Disasters of the 20 th Century

1. Environmental Disasters of the 20th Century By Alex Bennett

2. Burning of the Cuyahoga River

3. Where and When • Cleveland, Ohio USA • June 23, 1969

4. Nature of the Disaster • Cleveland's oily, contaminated Cuyahoga River caught fire • Lasted 30 minutes and caused fifty thousand dollars in damages • Flames climbed as high as five stories until fireboats brought it under control • Burning rivers in industrialized areas were common through the late 19th and early 20th century • There have reportedly been at least 13 fires on the Cuyahoga River, the first occurring in 1868

5. Cause of the Disaster • The fire was attributed to wastes dumped into the river by the waterfront industries • The true cause is unclear, but people believe sparks from a passing train ignited the oil in the river • Oil and debris on the river caught fire at least a 6 times before 1950, causing substantial damage toindustrial properties along the river's banks • Ohio authorities insist it was not a case of spontaneous combustion Sludge in the river

6. Attempt to Negate the Disaster • Cleveland, at the time, was not particularly impressed by the fire • The Chief of Police was not called • The regular crewhad it under control in under half an hour

7. Losses • Devoid of fish– they only found 10 sick gizzard shad • There were no visible signs of life in the river at all (not even leeches and worms) • No humans were harmed during the fire, but the pollution of the river caused health hazards on its own

8. Effects of the Disaster • It was an important event in the raising of awareness of environmental issues in America and became a rallying point for passage of the Clean Water Act • The boundaries of the Area of Concern (AOC) were set by the Cuyahoga Remedial Action Plan Coordinating Committee in 1988 • Large point sources of pollution on the Cuyahoga have received significant attention from the OEPA in recent decades

9. Ultimate Outcome • When the EPA crews went back last summer they found 40 different fish species in the river • The once dead Lake Erie into which the Cuyahoga drains now has a $600 million fishing industry. The Ohio EPA considers the final forty miles of the Cuyahoga a "recovering system" and cleanup is continuing.

10. Burn On, Big River by Randy Newman There's a red moon rising On the Cuyahoga River Rolling into Cleveland to the lake There's a red moon rising On the Cuyahoga River Rolling into Cleveland to the lake There's an oil barge winding Down the Cuyahoga River Rolling into Cleveland to the lake There's an oil barge winding Down the Cuyahoga River Rolling into Cleveland to the lake Cleveland city of light city of magic Cleveland city of light you're calling me Cleveland, even now I can remember’ Cause the Cuyahoga River Goes smokin' through my dreams Burn on, big river, burn on Burn on, big river, burn on Now the Lord can make you tumble And the Lord can make you turn And the Lord can make you overflow But the Lord can't make you burn Burn on, big river, burn on Burn on, big river, burn on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMtRSKX-Pk Some river! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows. "Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga does not drown," Cleveland's citizens joke grimly. "He decays.” Time Magazine, August 1969

11. Bhopal Disaster

12. Where and When • AKA Bhopal Gas Tragedy • Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant • Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India • December 2–3, 1984

13. Nature of the Disaster • The UCIL factory was built in 1969 to produce the pesticide Sevin • 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the plant • The worst industrial accident in history • The disaster indicated a need for enforceable international standards for environmental safety, preventative strategies to avoid similar accidents, and industrial disaster preparedness

14. Cause of the Disaster • A leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people • Water entered a tank containing 42 tons of MIC • This increased the temperature and pressure • The tank vented and released toxic gases into the atmosphere • The gases were blown by winds over Bhopal

15. Magnitude of the Disaster Factors leading to the magnitude of the gas leak include: • Storing MIC in large tanks and filling beyond recommended levels • Poor maintenance • Failure of several safety systems • Safety systems being switched off to save money—including the MIC tank refrigeration system which could have decreased the disaster severity

16. Attempt to Negate the Disaster • "Operation Faith": On December 16, the remaining MIC tanks were emptied and this led to a second mass evacuation from Bhopal • UCIL was only able to undertake additional cleanup work in the years just prior to its sale in 1994 and spent about $2 million • The “Responsible Care” program was globally implemented, designed to prevent any future events through improving community awareness, emergency preparedness, and process safety standards

17. Losses • 2,000cows, goats, and other animals died • Vegetation all died within days • The official immediate death toll was 2,259 • The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release • An estimated 3,000 died within weeks and another 8,000 have since died from gas related diseases

18. Effects of the Disaster • The initial physical effects of exposure were coughing, vomiting, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation • The Government of India passed the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act that gave the government rights to represent all victims • In December 2008, the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided that toxic waste should be incinerated • As of 2008, UCC had not released information about the possible composition of the gas– complaints of a lack of information are widespread

19. Ultimate Outcome • Civil and criminal cases are pending in the United States District Court, Manhattan, and the District Court of Bhopal involving UCIL employees and Warren Anderson, CEO at the time of the disaster • In June 2010, seven ex-employees were convicted in Bhopal of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years imprisonment • The MIC and the Sevin plants are still there

20. Bibliography • http://pratie.blogspot.com/2005/03/cuyahoga-river-fire-of-1969.html • http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/cuyahoga-catches-fire.php • http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html • http://www.ehjournal.net/content/4/1/6 • http://www.bhopal.com/faq • www.responsiblecare.com