A similar episode occurred in october 1948, when what is described as a smog enveloped the town of donora, pennsylvania. In 1955, just a few years after the incident, congress passed the air pollution control act. The pollutants from the factories caused the meuse valley smog in the year 1930 in belgium, which caused shortness of breath amongst the people. We live about 45 hours from there, so my husband and i planned an overnight trip to pittsburgh and this was one of the attractions we wanted to visit. Lois bainbridge of webster, pa, to the governor, october 31, 1948. An episode in donora, pennsylvania, in 1948 is an example. Donora smog museum 2020 all you need to know before you go. The pollutants in the air mixed with fog to form a thick, yellowish, acrid smog that hung over donora for five days.
The great smog eventually spurred the passage of the clean air act of 1956 in the uk. At donora, 20 persons died and thousands became ill. Donora historical society and smog museum facebook. Environmental health trust killer smog environmental. Since the merge of the elementary and middle schools, there is no longer donora dragon football or cheerleading. Residents had to keep lights on all day and the high school. Donora the day after a deadly smog cleared over donora, the local newspaper lobbied for a full investigation into the poisonous air that had just killed 20 people. Aside from the 1948 smog incident, the steel mill would serve donora well for the next 60 or so years until it started to close in the late 1950s and finishing in the late 1960s. I case study of air pollution episodes in meuse valley of belgium, donora of pennsylvania, and london, u. Many credit the literary works of henry david thoreau or teddy roosevelts patronage of national parks as the roots of the green movement in the us. Also, sulfur dioxide emissions have dropped 35 percent and carbon monoxide levels have fallen 32 percent.
Sep 16, 2019 signage inside the donora smog museum. The town was the scene of the infamous donora smog of 1948. Bodies were stored in the donora hotel, one of the towns historic structures still standing on the same road as the donora smog museum, opened in 2009 to keep alive the memory and lessons of. Conservative estimates showed that 20 individuals died, while an additional 590043% of the population of donorawere affected by the smog. A trip to donora pa must include a stop at the smog museum. Donoras 1948 smog predates that 1952 event by four years and they discuss donora during that specific show. Midday with streetlights on courtesy of the donora historical society located 37 miles south of pittsburgh, donora is nestled in the monongahela river valley. Thickening smog in donora, pa courtesy of the donora historical society.
Smog victim on stretcher, donora, pa, november 4, 1948. Public debate and corporate diplomacy in donoras fight for clean. Apr 25, 2017 the pollutants from the factories caused the meuse valley smog in the year 1930 in belgium, which caused shortness of breath amongst the people. Donora s 1948 smog predates that 1952 event by four years and they discuss donora during that specific show. Killer smog in donora, pennsylvania decades tv network duration. Apr 22, 2009 smog deaths in 1948 led to clean air laws on oct. The donora smog event was devastating to the community, however this event helped create the air pollution control act in 1955 and further developed the clean air acts. I had seen a show on the weather channel about donora and the smog museum a few months ago. Oct 27, 2011 on this day, the 63rd anniversary of the donora death fog, lets all take a deep breath and be glad that we can. They soon learned that 20 people were dead and half the town was.
The 1948 donora smog was a historic smog event that killed 20 people and caused respiratory. This variety of fog later came to be known as smog a merging of the words smoke and fog, a term invented by a londoner in the early 20th century. This dissertation explores how investigations of donoras smog reflected and contributed to the power of. The story of 26 sudden deaths in 1948 is a bleak reminder of why america needs clean air laws. The donora smog disaster and the clean air act of 1970. Weather and geography affect the location and severity of smog. From the ballad death in donora, recorded by folklorist dan hoffman folks in pittsburgh, johnstown, connellsville and the other steel and mining towns of western pennsylvania were used to smog. The boroughs nickname is the home of champions, mainly because of the large number of famous athletes who have called donora their home. The 1948 donora smog was a historic smog event that killed 20 people and caused respiratory problems for 6,000 people of the 14,000 population of donora, pennsylvania, a mill town on the monongahela river 24 miles 39 km southeast of pittsburgh.
Find donora smog museum in donora with address, phone number from yahoo us local. The smog may have been an environmental disaster, but in the end, it helped save more people from air pollution. In 1930, in the meuse valley, a period of intense fog in a heavy industrial area resulted in the death of 60 persons. The historically hazy story of donoras deadly smog atlas. The other factors reported were coughing fits, rapid breathing, nausea, vomiting, etc. The sulfuric acid, nitrogen dioxide, fluorine, and other poisonous gases that usually dispersed into the atmosphere were caught in the inversion and accumulated until rain ended the weather pattern. Donora smog disaster phmc our documentary heritage. An air pollution disaster over the two southwestern pennsylvania towns of donora and webster in october 1948 took dozens of lives, left thousands literally gasping for breath, and motivated the united states public health service phs to enter the arena of air pollution policy. In the 1949 public health service report on the donora smog.
Sometimes a resident of donora is on site to discuss the tragic weather inversion which trapped deadly smog from the zinc works decades ago. In late october 1948 the monongahela river valley town of donora, pennsylvania was subsumed in a noxious smog. The donora smog event was devastating to the town, state and country. May 09, 2015 a trip to donora pa must include a stop at the smog museum. Until october 1948, smoke belching from industrial plants in donora and elsewhere was considered little more than a daily nuisance. The donora smog disaster october 3031, 1948 images. Mar 18, 20 donora smog incident 1948 pete teichroeb. Donora was a town of 14,000 people on the monongahela river in. In donora, pennsylvania, a smog cloud formed, consisting of a poisonous mix of sulfur dioxide so, carbon monoxide 2 co, and metal dust from the smokestacks of the local zinc smelter where most of the town worked. Donora, pennsylvania smog disaster the front page has one column headings. The donora fluoride fog a secret history of americas worst air pollution disaster this article appears in the fall 1998 earth island journal, by chris bryson. Staying right puts you on mckean avenue and your journey to some of the most unique history in the usa. The great smog of london, or great smog of 1952, was a severe airpollution event that affected the british capital of london in early december 1952. It got its name from a combination of william donner and nora mellon, banker andrew w.
Air pollution and public health the current avoidable. Over the next five days, twenty residents died and 7000 people, half the towns. Nov 14, 2012 what atmospheric phenomenon prompted the 1948 smog episode in donora, pennsylvania. The donora smog of 1948 was a historic air inversion pall of smog that killed 20 and sickened 7,000 people in donora, pennsylvania, united states, a mill town on. Nov 29, 2017 the historically hazy story of donoras deadly smog a 1948 environmental disaster in the pennsylvania town resulted in half truths, conspiracy theories, and the introduction of clean air laws. This sign, refurbished in 2019, greets visitors as they come across the stan the man musial bridge into donora. Formatin and effects of smog encyclopedia of life support. Within 1 month, about 70 had lost their lives and the town funeral parlor ran. May 24, 2012 the donora smog disaster and the clean air act of 1970. Major smog occurrences often are linked to heavy motor vehicle traffic, high temperatures, sunshine, and calm winds. By friday, folks were crowding into local hospitals, but that didnt stop the halloween parade that same evening, when costumed. This pledge must be kept until it is redeemed by a true bill of health which donora must now earn out of its tragedy, the heraldamericans frontpage editorial stated. Donora smog museum 2020 all you need to know before you. Eas%20air%20pollution%20phys%20chemdonora%20pa%20episode.
The towns population has dropped to a third of what its size was 65 years ago, thanks to the closing of the zinc and steel plants that used to provide employment for many of the towns citizens. In fact, since the acts inception, emissions of toxic lead in the united states have dropped 98 percent. The great smog of donora was a tragedy, but out of the smog rose a newly found national passion for cleaning the air. Other news, sports and advertisements of the day throughout including front page reporting on operation hiram. Although the mills have long since gone, today donora has a thriving industrial park in the footprint of the original mill. Founded in 1946, the society and smog museum has exhibits related to the 1948 smog tragedy, founding of. What was the significance of the smog episodes in donora, pennsylvania, and london.
The smog lasted about five days and killed approximately 20 people. The donora smog became an ideological morass of subjective memory, the protective halftruths of insiders, the distortions of outsiders, conspiracy theories, and the obfuscating legalese of those responsible, all competing for the right to tell what really happened in the fog. A collection of artifacts of this dark time are displayed this is an educational experience. Pdf smog is created through the interactions between pollutants in the air, fog, and sunlight.
Air pollution from the donora zinc works covered the town for two days, killing 20 and. An industrial town in pennsylvania, usa, where a classic air pollu. Over a fiveday period, the smog killed about 20 people and made thousands more seriously ill. The detroit news, october 31, 1948 donora, pennsylvania smog disaster the front page has one column headings. They were able to combine their findings with the historical record of industry in the region, and discovered that after the opening of the zinc works in 1915, there. Oct 27, 2017 while the smog left many dead and sick, it served as a wakeup call to factory owners and the entire nation. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutantsmostly arising from the use of coalto form a thick layer of smog over the city. Donora smog occurred in donora, pennsylvania reported in the year 1948.
Donora is a borough in washington county, pennsylvania, united states. A darkness in donora when smog killed 20 people in a pennsylvania mill town in 1948, the clean air movement got its start. Smog meant that the mills were running and the coke ovens burning. No one was prepared for the black cloud that swallowed donora, a monongahela mill town, just a short drive south from pittsburgh, on tuesday, october 26, 1948. Because temperature regulates the length of time it takes for smog to form, smog can occur more quickly and be more severe on a hot, sunny day. In the valley, the cool ground contributed to a strong temperature inversion. The air was polluted by local steel plants, railroad yards and zinc works. Overall, donora pennsylvania was greatly impacted by the deadly smog event in 1948. A temperature inversion sets the stage for the donora smog of 1948. While the smog left many dead and sick, it served as a wakeup call to factory owners and the entire nation. Donora, 1948 179 factors of meso and micrometeorology have on occasion hindered atmospheric mixing to such an extent that episodes of severe air pollution have been ex perienced. Todays smog is made from nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compound emissions.
Cleaner air is legacy left by donoras killer 1948 smog. This dissertation explores how investigations of donora s smog reflected and contributed to the power of. The donora pennsylvania smog in late october 1948, a noxious smog enveloped the monongahela river valley town of donora, pennsylvania. The clean air act has prevented another incident like that of the donora smog of 1948 and the london fog of 1952. Special thanks to the donora smog museum, the donora historical society, and the library of congress teaching with primary sources program at california university of pennsylvania for use of their donora digital collection. Case study of air pollution episodes in meuse valley of. When smog killed 20 people in a pennsylvania mill town in 1948, the clean air movement got its start. While todays air pollution problems do not approach the severity of the 1948 donora smog and are less visible to the reasonably good eye, pennsylvania still has an ozone pollution problem. Print a read and math workbook with death smog in donora, pennsylvania reading comprehension. On this day, the 63rd anniversary of the donora death fog, lets all take a deep breath and be glad that we can. Brian charlton of the donora smog museum talked about the origin of the 1948 donora air quality crisis and how it led to changing perceptions of air pollution and industrialization. At the end of october 1948, the communities of donora and webster in pennsylvania were visited by a smog that changed the face of environmental protection in the united states. The historically hazy story of donoras deadly smog. The donora smog helped raise awareness of air pollution and its deadly effects on human beings and has even been credited with jumpstarting the clean air movement in the united states.
The event is commemorated by the donora smog museum. The book features a two page spread that shows the smog museum image, as well a brief story on the 1948 smog and a mention of the donora historical society, the smog museum and this website. Unesco eolss sample chapters environmental toxicology and human health vol. Dec 12, 2016 this feature is not available right now. Within 1 month, about 70 had lost their lives and the town funeral parlor ran out of caskets. The united states public health service undertook an exhaustive study of every facet of the air. In 1952 london, 12,000 people died from smog heres why.
For those who wont be in the monongehela river valley any time soon, a number of the museums photographs have been archived online. As residents of a township that relied on two major industrial plants for their livelihood, the citizens of donora were no strangers to heavy pollution from the american steel and wire plant and the donora zinc works. You may not have heard of the donora death fog, but if you are. The historically hazy story of donoras deadly smog a 1948 environmental disaster in the pennsylvania town resulted in half truths, conspiracy theories, and the introduction of clean air laws. Kagawa, jun encyclopedia of life support systems eolss so2 was from 9. Pdf smog induces oxidative stress and microbiota disruption. What atmospheric phenomenon prompted the 1948 smog episode in donora, pennsylvania. A secret history of americas worst air pollution disaster. The anniversary of the worst recorded industrial air pollution accident in us history which occurred 50 years ago this october in donora, pennsylvania will go virtually unmarked. Donora smog museum in donora donora smog museum 595. Donora zinc works, which produced a toxic blend of sulfuric acid, nitrogen dioxide.
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