The Donora Death Fog :: Air Pollution Environmental Issues Essays

The Donora Death FogD-Town Back home in Canonsburg, a small suburb outside of Pittsburgh, this is how we refer to Donora. We joke that the only intimacy in Donora is the roller skating rink, but even this is inaccessible to some(prenominal)one whos not a D-townspeople native because when you are at the age to deficiency to go roller skating you arent brave enough to envision into the Donora city limits. Only dedicated roller-skaters are brave enough to assume the elements of Donora. Of course, one, particularly a girl, would never think of going to Donora alone. But for me, I was never really that scared of Donora because my grandparents live nearby and we used to make water dinner at the Ponderosa that has since closed. But, I never missed the fortune to poke fun at that rough territory. Recently, I drove done D-town. The shops are boarded up. Theres graffiti everywhere. In addition to the roller rink there are a few bars and abandoned restaurants. I always assumed that it was the gigantic Wal-mart that had caused this once thriving town to fall to shambles. But, this town, as I recently learned, was the site of the worst save industrial duck soup pollution accident in US annals (The Donora Fluoride Fog). This disaster intrigued me, so I decided to do some enquiry regarding what happened. My investigation first conduct me to find that twenty people died from October 26-31, 1948 (Pennsylvania DEP). correspond to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation website, the town population was about 14,000 at the time of the disaster. Devastatingly, about half-7,000-of those people became ill or hospitalized. My investigation led me to discover that this disaster was created by unchecked industrial emissions and stagnant air conditions (Donoras Killer Smog Noted at 50). These conditions led to a smog fog hanging around the area. The American Steel & telegraph Co., a subsidiary of the US Steel Group, was the local plant prudent for producing these e missions and conditions. It is also widely accepted that the weather conditions were prominent in producing the disaster. In October of 1998, spokespeople for the industry agreed that the disaster was unfortunate and tragic, but did not bankrupt to note that, at the time of the disaster, full-strength air acts did not exist. If any good could come from this disaster it was the funding for research about clean air and the eventual passing of clean air acts and legislation.