APES Environmental Disasters - AT

Love Canal (New York)

• Town built on toxic waste dump

• Residents became ill

• Lois Gibbs spearheaded effort to get government help

• Resulted in formation of Superfund (CERCLA)

3 Mile Island (Pennsylvania

• near total meltdown at a nuclear power facility

• Resulted in stricter regulations at US nuclear power facilities

BP Oil Spill (Gulf of Mexico)

• Oil rid Deepwater Horizon experienced an explosion that resulted in millions of gallons of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico

• Spill resulted in negative impacts on marine life, fishing industry, and tourism in the Gulf of Mexico area

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone (Gulf of Mexico)

• Nitrate/phosphate runoff from farming along Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico causing eutrophic (low dissolved oxygen) conditions

• Results in fish kills, lack of fishing for industry, negative impact on marine life food chain

Chernobyl (Ukraine)

• Nuclear power plant meltdown that released radiation into town causing inhabitants to be exposed

• Site is still uninhabitable

Fukushima (Japan)

• Nuclear power facility destroyed by tsunami caused by an underwater earthquake

• Radiation contamination soil, water, animals, and people exposed to radiation released

Minamata (Japan)

• Chisso corporation dumped methylmercury directly into Minamata Bay

• Resulted in bioaccumulation/biomagnification of mercury in the food chain

• Local people were exposed to high levels of mercury due to diet rich in fish, resulted in mercury poisoning or “Minamata disease”

Cuyahoga River

• Industrial water and debris was dumped directly into Cuyahoga River

• Waste and debris caught fire about 13 times

• Resulted in formation of Clean Water Act

Gulf Steam

Great Lakes

Love Canal

3 Mile Island

Marcellus Shale Formation

Cuyahoga River

Great Smokey Mountains National Park

BP Oil Spill

New Orleans

Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi River

Keystone Pipeline Path

Ogallala Aquifer

Yellowstone National Park

Colorado River

Cascade Mountains

San Andreas Fault

Los Angeles

Equator

30 degree latitude lines

3 Gorges Dam

Pacific Ocean Garbage Gyres

Ring of Fire

Mid Atlantic Range

Alberta Tar Sands

Chernobyl

Fukushima

Minamata Bay

Indonesia

Iceland

Hawaii

Pacific Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Indian Ocean

North America

South America

Europe

Africa

Asia