East Hampton was originally an agricultural settlement which soon was replaced with whaling around 1652. Settlers discovered beached whales often appeared on the shore and would harvest the oil and meat. Eventually residents would no longer be content with harvesting from beached whales and begin hunting whales that came too close to the shore. At the height of the whaling industry in 1847, around 60 ships would be docked at Sag Harbor which is referenced in Moby Dick. After 1847, the industry fell off due to the rise of fuel products.
Lion Gardiner purchased Gardiner’s Island in 1639 from the Montaukett people. This would become the first English settlement in NY. In June 12, 1640; nine puritan families from Massachusetts landed in present day Conscience Point and migrated to East Hampton eventually settling in 1649.
The Worcester tornado was the strongest tornado to ever hit New England, traveling for nearly 46 miles with wind speeds of almost 300mph. This tornado devastated the city of Worcester, killing 94 people and leaving over $53,000,000 in property damage. The tornado was particularly devastating in newer areas of the city, where postwar suburban expansion led to such a high demand for houses that many neighborhoods were built on slabs without basements.
In 2020, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation along with the Maryland Watermen's Association, Anne Arundel County, and a few Virginia cattle farmers, sued the EPA for renouncing its responsibilities under the Clean Water Act. Separate lawsuits were also filed by the Attorney Generals of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The EPA failed to make sure the Bay jurisdictions were fulfilling their obligations of meeting their pollution reduction commitments by the 2025 deadline. This was found to be a violation of the Clean Water Act, Administrative Procedure Act, and the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement.
In june of 2014 the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement was signed. Here was the first time New York, West Virginia, and Delaware committed to the Bay program. This agreement established 10 goals and 31 outcomes with regards to habitat restoration, clean water, conservation, and having communities become more engaged. The agreement also contains the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint which includes the TMDL and WIP.
In 2010, the 2000 Chesapeake lawsuit filed against the EPA for not setting science based pollution limits, was settled with an historic agreement. In this agreement the EPA establishes the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The TMDL sets limits on how much sediment and nutrients can enter the Bay in order to meet the desired water quality. The seven Bay jurisdictions created the Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) that outlines detailed steps that the jurisdiction will take in order to meet the pollution reductions agreed to by 2025.
The 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement was the first agreement to set numeric goals in order to reduce pollutants in the bay and restore the ecosystems. More specifically, the agreement was targeted at nitrogen and phosphorus entering the bay, aiming to reduce those pollutants by 40% by 2000. Establishing actual numeric goals was unprecedented so this agreement became a hallmark of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
The First Chesapeake Bay Agreement was signed in 1987 by the Environmental Protection Agency, a one page agreement recognizing that there needs to be efforts to address the Chesapeake Bay’s pollution issues. States that signed on were Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. These signatories became the Chesapeake Executive Council. Though this agreement was formed with future general goals, no requirements or timelines were established. The Chesapeake Bay Program was also established before this agreement after studies showed bay pollutants coming from excess nutrients.
The Providence and Worcester Railroad began operation in 1844 and dramatically decreased shipping time and costs for goods between Worcester and Providence. This form of transportation was much more efficient than the use of waterways, so the Providence and Worcester Railroad was able to replace the recently built Blackstone Canal which was previoudly used to transport goods between the two cities. This railroad allowed for quicker travel between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but it also led to increased consumption of fossil fuels and contributed to the industrial pollution of New England during this time.
In 1673, Daniel Gookin purchased eight square miles of land from the Nipmuck tribe living in this area and created the Quinsigamond Plantation. When the Nipmuck became aware that the Europeans were not going to share the land, they attacked and drove the settlers away. This area was then settled and abandoned several times throughout the next 40 years due to conflict with Native tribes and was eventually established as a town in 1722.
As a result of historical practices of red lining, certain neighborhoods in cities are facing the brunt of the effects of climate change. In places like Gilpin in urban Richmond, Virginia, there is less tree cover as well as less access to parks and community resources. Areas like Gilpin were created through racist zoning practices that kept minorities to certain areas that were underdeveloped. As a result of this, residents do not have adequate access to healthy foods or swimming pools
The Charles River runs through much of Newton and was vital in helping Newton residents. One way the Charles River was utilized in Newton was through the creation of mills. One of the first mills in Newton on the Charles River was a paper mill created in 1760. Later, in the 19th century, mills of all kinds were being operated in Newton, such as cotton and thread mills and tobacco mills. In Newton they were producing paper, iron, and cotton more than any other materials. Additionally, there were new manufacturing companies such as nail and silk manufacturers in the Upper and Lower Falls of Newton. None of these companies, especially the mills, would have been possible without the support of the Charles River. The mill in the image was taken in 1905.
The Forestry Department was created in Newton to care for and create gardens, parks, playgrounds, and other green spaces for the city. The new parks and playgrounds helped to promote suburbia to the rich families in Boston who wanted to escape the noise of industrialization and provided new recreational spaces for the residents of Newton. Due to all these projects in the early 1900s and the naturally beautiful landscape, Newton is known as the Garden City. These projects were happening around the same time as the conservation movement was gaining momentum from President Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot.
As railroad production began to boom, the Boston and Worcester Railroad was built, and Newton was one of the first stops created along the railroad. This was a huge advancement for Newton because it allowed commuting to and from the city for work to gain popularity. As the railroad serviced more and more people, Newton was able to develop more as a suburb.
On April 22nd of 1970, an estimated 20 million people from across the United States participated in demonstrations for the first Earth Day. Championed by Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin senator, Earth Day was a celebration that consisted of activities such as teach-ins and protests. In Madison, WI, many students of UW-Madison spent the day marched up and down the streets surrounding the Wisconsin State Capitol. Prior to Earth Day, the mayor, backed by city police, had revoked the permit for the coordinated parade/protest Madisonians had arranged. However, a group of passionate students marched on, confronted with riot-equipped policemen. Eventually, only a group of 30 protestors made it to the capitol, ending their demonstration by picking up litter on the capitol lawn.
Following the 1830 Indian Removal Act, the state government forcibly removed members of the Ho-Chunk nation from the area in 1832. Prior to this event, the Ho-Chunk had occupied the area for over 12,000 years. The first treaty signed after the Indian Removal Act coerced the Ho-Chunk people into giving up their lands south of Portage Canal, which encompasses where the city of Madison is today. Omar Poler, UW-Madison's American Indian Curriculum Services coordinator, reportedly calls that treaty "Madison's founding document." He says, "without that treaty, there's no Madison."
In April of 1970, 1 of the 2 sludge lagoons belonging to the sewage treatment facilities of south Madison partially collapsed, releasing 85 million gallons of sludge into a nearby ditch. Initially, a management plan suggested reusing the sludge as fertilizer for agricultural land in the area. However, in 1982, it was determined that the sludge had high levels of PCBs, thus leading to the addition of the site to the EPA's Superfund list in 1990. The site achieved the status of "ready for anticipated reuse" in 2010 after the construction of a soil and fabric cover over the lagoons and after waiting long enough for PCB concentrations to adequately decrease. The attached picture shows the installation of a site security fence.
In the late 1960s, Madison's creeks and streams flowing into Lake Monona were seeing large amounts of pollution and subsequently many fish deaths. Sewage treatment plants in Madison were discharging water containing high nitrogen and phosphorous into nearby rivers, causing algal blooms that deprived the water of oxygen. Aside from 4 sewage treatment plants, meat company Oscar Mayer and Co. was also listed by the Wisconsin DNR as a polluter. After completing a water pollution survey of the area, the DNR issued pollution abatement orders to each of the suspected polluters.
The original city of Boston was just 738 acres on an isthmus. Through countless land reclamation acts Boston has filled in much of the bay adding countless more acers. In 1857 the city took on a project to fill 600 acres of tidal basin with gravel, creating the Back Bay, the most ambitious land reclamation project at the time. Mill pond was originally created to power mills during the 1700s, but it was filled in in 1828 to add 50 acres to the city. The entire 189 acre Logan airport was built by the US Army during World War I on what was more tidal basin. Countless more projects filled in south Boston and the remaining area to create the modern shoreline.
Scientists first noticed global ozone depletion in the late 1970s, and when evidence of the association between ozone depletion and CFC prominence developed, a global effort to curb usage and production of CFCs began. In 1987, representatives from 43 countries signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, in which they agreed to freeze production of CFCs at 1986 levels as well as reduce production by 50% by 1999. This protocol went into effect 1989 following a meeting in Finland, and since then it has undergone many revisions and many new countries have joined. The phase-out schedules for developed and developing countries have continuously changed and new compounds have been added to the list of controlled substances. The protocol became the first universally ratified environmental treaty, so it is not only relevant to American environmental history, although America was one of the leading nations to develop the treaty.
General Iron, a metal shredding company has been attempting to relocate from its Lincoln Park neighborhood to the southeast side of Chicago. The building has already been made and is ready for use but the permit that would allow for the building to be used was delayed due to protests by people living in the neighborhood it was planned to move to. It was protested because of the air pollution that would come with it, these protests were heard by the government and so the permit was denied. The permit will not be approved until the EPA finishes investigating the pollution output that would be being moved to this place. This is relevant to American environmental history because it is very similar to the situations of environmental racism that we discussed in class. The neighborhood General Iron was attempting to move to is predominantly latino and already has been dealing with other environmental hazards. This environmental issue is very similar to the things we have learned about in class and shows how history tends to repeat itself unless we break the cycle.
When the San Francisco Earthquake hit on April 18, 1906, there was serious damage to many of the homes that were built on non-firm land near the water. Homes were being built on land that was once not solid ground, so this land was not as firm as land needed to be to truly support a house. When the earthquake hit, these homes that were built on non-firm land, began to sink into the ground because the land underneath turned to almost a liquid form, which was unable to support a house and keep it upright. Thousands of homes were damaged in a similar fashion because San Francisco, during this time period, began to build many houses in areas near the water that were built on non-firm land. San Francisco is a place with many hills so it was challenging to find the space to build more homes. That's why homes began to be built near the water, on land that was once not solid.
Toxic waste from the General Motors Inland Fisher Guide plant was found in the backyard of 19 homes in Salina, NY. PCB's were found to have been buried in these backyards, creating a major health risk for those residing on the land. The company that produced these chemicals closed in 1993, leaving behind toxic pollution in Ley Creek, which flows into Onondaga Lake in Syracuse. This trail of waterways allows the PCBs to travel and end up in inconvenient locations such as recreational and household land.
The Gold King Mine spill occurred when contractors working for EPA opened up a tailings dam which is a sealed embankment to store mining byproduct and wastewater. This opened tailings dam then flooded into the animas river and the Colorado River system and leached heavy metals into the water.