Biggest Man Made Environmental Disasters

TVA Kingston Fossil Plant Coal Fly Ash Slurry Spill

1. Its a pretty crazy name huh? Its real though. In an 84 acre solid waste containment area, an ash dike ruptured in the early hours of December 22, 2008. This fossil plant in Roane County, Tennessee held 1.1 billion gallons of coal fly ash slurry which was expelled causing a mudflow wave. Although there were no reported fatalities or injuries (thank goodness), it damaged several properties and government facilities. .....

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

2. On March 24, 1989, 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled in Prince William Sounds, Alaska by the oil tanker Exxon Valdez after it ran into Bligh Reef. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human caused environmental disasters with both the longterm and shortterm effects of the oil spill having been studied. .....

Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch

3. Another example of the negative effects of human waste; the Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch is a gyre of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean. This patch which is characterized by high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge and other debris formed gradually as a result of the marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents. .....

Jilin Chemical Plant Explosions

4. The Jilin chemical plant explosions were .....

Castle Bravo

5. The code name Castle Bravo was .....

The Three Mile Island Nuclear Explosion

6. The three mile island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown which occurred in one of the two United States nuclear reactors on March 28, 1979 . Located on the three mile island in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; it was the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history with the partial meltdown resulting in the release of small amounts of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. .....

The Kuwait Oil Fires

7. Around 6 million barrels of oil were lost from January to November, 1991. 600 oil wells were set afire as part of the scorched earth policy by the retreating Iraqi military forces. $1.5 billion was spent by Kuwait to extinguish the fires that caused heavy pollution to the soil and air. .....

Door to Hell

8. In Derweze, Turkmenistan, a drilling rig made by Soviet geologists in 1971 gave way to a large hole measuring 70 meters in diameter, exposing a large methane gas reservoir. Fearing the environmental impact due to the substantial methane gas release; the geologists decided to burn it off. Unfortunately, the gas is still burning today. .....

The Palomares Incident

9. The crash of the B52G bomber of the USAF Strategic Air Command on January 17, 1966 led to the plutonium contamination of Palomares, a small village in the municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora, Almer .....

Sidoarjo Mud Flow

10. Sidoarjo (the largest mud volcano in the world) also known as the Lapindo mud, exists today because of gas blowout wells drilled by PT Lapindo Branta. .....

Libby Montana Asbestos Contamination

11. Vermiculite mines in Libby, Montana gave the local residents jobs and helped the local economy. However, due to the mines high use of Asbestos the residents suffered related disorders such as mesothelioma. Because of mine activities that started back in 1919, residents continue to suffer until today. .....

Deep water horizon BP oil spill

12. The deep water horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil Spill) in the Gulf of Mexico is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The oil spill was a direct result of the explosion and sinking of the deepwater horizon oil rig which claimed 11 lives. Total oil wasted is estimated at 4.9 million barrels. .....

Amoco Cadiz

13. A huge crude carrier bearing the flag of Liberia split into three parts and sank, releasing 1,604,500 barrels (219,797 tons) of light crude oil and 4,000 tons of fuel oil making it the largest oil spill of its kind at that time and resulted .....

Eccocide in Vietnam

14. During the Vietnam War, destruction of the farmland and rice paddies that fed the enemy was promulgated by the American military strategists. Other than these areas which were the source of food and livelihood of the Vietnamese folk, the jungle along with its flora and fauna was also devastated. .....

The Love Canal

16. In the 1940?s 21,000 tons of toxic industrial waste, containing highly toxic dioxin, was buried by Hooker Chemical (now Occidental Petroleum Corporation) which led to an adverse affect on nearby residents of Love Canal. The Love Canal neighborhood started gaining international attention as the health impact of such pollution became evident with miscarriages, cancers, and birth defects and has been described as a national symbol of a failure to ex .....

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

17. The most infamous hypoxic zone in the United States,the gulf of mexicos .....

Minamata Disease

18. Considered one of the four major pollution diseases in the history of Japan, Minamata is caused by severe mercury poisoning that attacks the nervous system. In 1956, Chisso Corporations industrial wastewater containing methylmercury was released into Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea; 2,265 fatalities are recognized as a direct consequence to this polluting even. .....

The Seveso Disaster

19. In July of 1976, an explosion at a chemical manufacturing plant north of Milan, Italy released Tetrachlorodibenzopdioxin (TCDD) into the atmosphere adversely affecting the nearby town of Seveso. Shortly thereafter 3,300 animals died and many more were put down in order to prevent the spread of contamination into the food chain. Children were hospitalized with skin inflammation and nearly 500 people were found to have skin lesions. .....

E waste in Guiyu China

20. Guiyu, China is the location of what may be the largest electronic waste (ewaste) site on earth. As a result 88% of the children in the area suffer from lead poisoning and there is more than the average rate of miscarriages. Consequently, the province is sadly referred to as the electronic graveyard .....

Baia Mare Cyanide Spill

21. After the Chernobyl incident in Russia, this cyanide spill in Baia Mare, Romania is aptly called the worst environmental disaster in Europe. On January 30, 2000, 100,000 cubic meters of cyanidecontaminated water leaked out from a dam, spewing out 100 tonnes of cyanide. .....

The Shrinking of the Aral Sea

22. Dubbed as one of the planets worst environmental disasters .....

The Bhopal Disaster

23. Known as the worlds worst industrial disaster, more than half a million people were exposed to methyl isocyanate gas and other toxic chemicals in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India on the night of December 23, 1984. The Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plants leak of the poisonous gas claimed 2,259 casualties. .....

The Chernobyl Nuclear Explosion

24. Being one out of two accidents classified as level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, Chernobyl is known as the worst nuclear power plant incident in history. Cancers, deformities and other long term illnesses were the scars of not only human inhabitants but of animals as well. .....

The Great Smog of 52

25. Thousands died and a hundred thousand fell ill because of a blanket of smog that covered London for 5 days in 1952. Cold weather, combined with .....