ACtion Magazine - September/October 2015 - (Page 8)
Clean air started here
Steve Schaeber
"Before there was an Environmental Protection Agency, before there was an
Earth Day, before Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, there was Donora."
-- W. Michael McCabe (1998)
A
n important part of MACS Section 609 Certification
The borough of Donora lies in a valley on a bend of the
is a history lesson, discussing the series of events Monongahela River, about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
that led to the rules and regulations of A/C system Its major industries were a zinc works, steel mill and a wire
service. When conducting classes, many instructors explain plant, which as part of its process would emit hydrogen fluothese rules come from federal law, specifically the US Clean ride, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide from their smoke
Air Act of 1990. We follow that up with the 1987 signing stacks. Townsfolk grew accustomed to the yellowish, acidic
of the Montreal Protocol, though someair, which although part of daily life,
times even go back as far as 1974 when
would eventually disperse in the atRowland and Molina first published their
mosphere.
...air pollution is more
paper on the damaging effects of chlorine
October 27, 1948 proved differthan just ugly air.
in the stratosphere.
ent as a thick fog began building up
But that's not exactly where the story
over the town, due in part to an atmobegins. Some refer to Rachel Carson's
spheric phenomenon known as a tem1960 publishing of Silent Spring, considered to be a driver of perature inversion; a warm air mass above trapped the town's
the modern environmental movement. But looking back even pollution near the surface in a layer of cooler air. Residents
further, in October of 1948 a small Pennsylvania town experi- continued about their business over the next several days, but
enced the first environmental disaster to captivate the nation, as more exhaust released into the stagnant air, the smog beconvincing many that air pollution is more than just ugly air. came worse and visibility decreased.
Before long, smog started taking its toll on people's health.
The sick and elderly first experienced respiratory problems as
In 2015, 3 million cars worldwide will use
doctors became inundated with calls. Even those who didn't
normally get sick had difficulty breathing and developed serious coughs. Working around the clock, physicians, nurses,
police and firemen went door to door administering oxygen
and helping those in need, while drug stores remained open to
"
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8
ACTION * September/October 2015
Donora Historical Society
R-1234yf
fill prescriptions. Many people fled town, traveling over the
mountains to avoid the toxic fumes.
After five days, an agreement on Sunday, October 31
between town council and plant operators temporarily shut
down the mills, which together with a rain storm finally alleviated the smog. Twenty deaths and hundreds of illnesses
occurred during this event, with several thousand more documented in the coming weeks. The mills started back up the
following Monday.
http://www.schraderinternational.com/region-selector
http://www.schraderinternational.com/region-selector
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - September/October 2015
Cooling the '55 Chevy
Servicing an A6 Compressor
Cruising the Classics in California
Outlook
Leonard's Law
Virtual View
Service Port
Last Watch
Member Profile
By the Numbers
Industry News
Association News
New Products
In Memoriam
ACtion Magazine - September/October 2015
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