Environmental Catastrophes timeline
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Cuyahoga River Catches Fire, Setting Off a Series of Pollution Control Legislation
On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire. This dramatic event, which got international news coverage, is still a reminder of the need to... Read more
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Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Commonly Called Superfund, is Signed into Law
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), a United States... Read more
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Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
On March 24, 1989 the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 11 million gallons... Read more
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Exxon Valdez Strikes Bligh Reef, Causing Disastrous Oil Spill at Sea
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in the Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 23, 1989. It is considered one of the most devastating... Read more
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Iraqi Forces Cause the Gulf War Oil Spill
On January 21, 1991, Iraqi forces opened valves at the Sea Island oil terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf. The... Read more
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Prestige Oil Spill
The oil spill from the tanker Prestige, which sank off Spain in November 2002, has been far worse than previously claimed, the Spanish government... Read more
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Activists Rally Around the World to Mark 'Magic' Climate Change Number
Activists held events around the world Saturday to mark the number they say the world needs to reach to prevent disastrous climate change:... Read more
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EPA Declares Greenhouse Gases a Danger to Public Health
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as expected, on Monday declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health, a decision that could soon... Read more
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Offshore Oil Rig 'Deepwater Horizon' Explodes Off the Gulf of Mexico
Helicopters, ships and an aeroplane searched the waters off Louisiana's coast today for at least 11 workers missing after an explosion and fire... Read more
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Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Survivors of Deepwater Horizon Explosion
Rescuers are prepared to call off the search today for the 11 missing crew members of the sunken oil rig off the Louisiana coast, reports the New... Read more
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Robot Submarines Deployed to Contain Gulf Oil Spill
Crews have been using a robot submarine to try to stop an oil leak nearly a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, but officials said late... Read more
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Coast Guard Officials Announce Possible 'Controlled Burn' to Contain Gulf Coast Oil Spill
"We fully understand that there are benefits and trade-offs" in torching the slick, the admiral co-ordinating federal operations told the New York... Read more
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Gulf Oil Spill Reaches the Size of Rhode Island
(NEWSER) – The oil spilling from a sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico has grown to more than 1,800 square miles—an area larger than Rhode Island—but... Read more
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Reports Surface of Government Regulator's Poor Record and Oil Rig's Lack of Safety Measure Following Disastrous Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
(NEWSER) – As the oil spill off Louisiana threatens to become one of the biggest in US history, Pro Publica would like to remind everyone that the... Read more
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Gulf Coast Oil Spill Reaches Shore
Crews scrambled to protect wetlands and fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp as oil began to wash ashore on the Gulf Coast last night. Officials... Read more
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Rush Limbaugh Suggests Conspiracy Behind Oil Rig Explosion
Rush Limbaugh thinks the timing of the oil rig explosion is a little fishy: "What better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by... Read more
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President Obama Arrives in Louisiana to Assess Effects of Gulf Oil Spill
President Obama visited Louisiana this afternoon, seeing for himself the effects of the continuing oil spill and promising an "all-hands-on-deck"... Read more
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Former FEMA Chief Michael 'Brownie' Brown Accuses President Obama of Allowing Oil Spill to Worsen for Political Reasons
President Obama's doing a heckuva job in using the Gulf oil spill to further his anti-Big Oil agenda, according to former FEMA chief Michael Brown.... Read more
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Governor Schwarzenegger Drops Support for Offshore Drilling Following Gulf Oil Spill
Disturbing images of the Gulf oil spill have caused California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to change his mind about allowing new drilling for oil... Read more
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Business and Environmental Lobbyists Rush to Capitol Amid Concern for Proposed Energy Bill Following Gulf Oil Spill
Energy reform advocates scrambled yesterday to rescue the bill that's been slogging its way through the Senate, but the Gulf oil spill appears to... Read more
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BP Deploys Chemical in Attempt to Disperse Gulf Oil Slick
The massive oil slick bobbing in the Gulf of Mexico still hasn't reached shore, thanks in part to the unprecedented doses of an oil-dispersing... Read more
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Sarah Palin Attributes Gulf Oil Spill to Foreignness of British Petroleum
Sarah Palin is fired up about the Gulf Coast oil spill, and she's taking away a powerful lesson: Don't trust foreigners, like those tea-sippers... Read more
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BP Crews Prepare Containment Dome to be Lowered Over Gulf Oil Leak
Crews prepared today to lower a 100-ton box they hoped would cut off most of the crude spewing from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, the... Read more
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Gulf Oil Slick Reaches Chandeleur Islands Wildlife Refuge
Oil from the massive Gulf of Mexico slick has begun washing ashore in a wildlife preserve off the coast of Louisiana. Officials say there is... Read more
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Containment Dome Almost in Place Over Leaking Undersea Oil Well
The big dome is nearly there. With the guidance of undersea robots, crews in the Gulf of Mexico are gingerly lowering the 100-ton... Read more