Bhopal, India’s Union Carbide Gas Leak

For the people of the densely populated city of Bhopal, India, December 2 and 3 of 1984 mark a very dark anniversary — a time that left thousands dead and thousands more deathly ill and clinging to life.  It all started in the late 1970s when Union Carbide India Limited constructed a pesticide plant in [...]

Love Canal, New York

In the 1930s and 1940s people and businesses did not pay a lot of attention to what happened to toxic chemicals produced during industrial processes. While there have long been regulations for the handling of these dangerous chemicals, enforcement of these laws was virtually nonexistent or haphazard at best. Large corporations, such as Hooker Chemical [...]

Beijing Olympics

With the Beijing Olympics in sight, Chinese authorities have long been working feverishly to give the city an extreme health makeover. In a recent test, Beijing’s air failed, again, to meet international health standards and guidelines six out of the seven days tested. Apparently, it is true that desperate times call for desperate measures. Reportedly, [...]

U.S. Steel Corp Pollution at Gary Works

Gary Works is an extensive steelmaking complex that sits on approximately 3,000 acres along the south shore of Lake Michigan just 15 miles southeast of Chicago. It is known as the number one polluter in the Lake Michigan basin and the third largest throughout all of the Great Lakes. In fact, U.S. Steel reported dumping [...]

Shangba, China’s Village of Death

Photo Credit: Adam Cohn Just south of Liangqiao, in southern China’s Guangdong province is the small village of Shangba. On the surface, this community of roughly 3,300 appears to be a tranquil, rural village comprised of sugar cane fields and plentiful rice paddies. When a closer look is taken, the people of Shangba have been [...]