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April 29, 2009, 4:30 PM Donora, PA Smog of 1948. By: BARRY GILBERT Categories: Air pollution |
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Donora Smog of 1948
Between Oct. 26 and 31, 1948, 20 people were asphyxiated and over 7,000 were hospitalized or became ill as the result of severe air pollution over Donora, Pennsylvania, the Monongahela River town of 14,000.1
The Disaster
Early in the week, a combination of smoke and fog, trapped by an air inversion, blanketed the community. As the days passed and more pollutants went into the stagnant air, the smog got worse and visibility kept decreasing. Despite the poor visibility that hampered both motorists and pedestrians, many went about their usual routine. The Halloween parade was held as scheduled Friday night and the football game with Monongahela was played Saturday afternoon before a packed crowd at Legion Field despite the difficulty in viewing either. 3
From local accounts of the time, Ms. Snyder provided this description of the 1948 disaster. "By Friday evening (Oct. 2), local residents were crowding into nearby hospitals and dozens of calls were made to the area's eight physicians. While Fire Department volunteers administered oxygen to those unable to breathe, Board of Health member Dr. William Rongaus led an ambulance by foot through darkened streets to ferry the dead and dying to hospitals or on to a temporary morgue. On Rongaus's advice, those with chronic heart or respiratory ailments began to leave town late Friday evening, but before noon on Saturday, 11 people died. Conditions had not improved by Saturday night, and with roads congested by smog and traffic, evacuation became impossible. 1
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This is what Donora looked like at noon on Oct. 29, 1948, as a deadly smog created by a temperature inversion and industrial plant emissions enveloped the town. 3 As the elderly and seriously ill began experiencing respiratory trouble, and the community’s physicians were flooded with calls from concerned families. As the physicians worked around the clock to treat the sick, they were assisted by nurses and other volunteers, including policemen and firemen who went door to door administering oxygen. Those who made the rounds reported on the difficulty of finding their way to the homes. 3 |
Drug stores remained open all night to fill prescriptions. Clergymen were called out to minister to the dying and their families. The Donora Board of Health met in an emergency session, and the American Red Cross and the American Legion and its Auxiliary set up an emergency station at the Community Center. Funeral directors offered their ambulances to carry the sick to the Community Center or the two area hospitals, Monongahela Memorial and Charleroi-Monessen. 3
The Donora Smog gained national attention when Walter Winchell broadcast news of the disaster on his national radio show. 1 Phone lines were flooded with calls from concerned families and friends from out of town as word of the disaster spread on radio and in the newspapers, and some people frightened by what was happening left town to stay with relatives and friends until the emergency was over. 3
Zinc Works Shuts Down
On Sunday, the Donora Zinc Works shut down its smelters to eliminate as much smoke and industrial fumes as possible as agreed to by borough, public health and company officials. Rain also arrived and helped to disperse the smog. The skies cleared. The Zinc Works resumed operations on Monday. 3
"Pittsburgh itself escaped the episode primarily because it had just begun to enforce a smoke control ordinance and was cutting back on the use of bituminous coal as a fuel source. 1
"The Pennsylvania Department of Health, United Steelworkers, Donora's Borough Council and the U.S. Public Health Service all participated in the investigation of the air pollution incident. ... 1
Donora Special Investigating Committee
The Donora Special Investigating Committee asked the Borough Assessor to conduct a census. The assessor had six assistants who interviewed 2,639 homes covering 11,765 individuals. He reported: 21 deceased, 68 left town, 4,951 affected, 6,814 not affected, 880 treated by doctors, 366 unable to see doctor, 47 went to hospital (number low), 12 reported went to mill hospital (he felt a better number was 86). 2
U.S. Public Health Service put Dr. H. H Schrenk, Chief of the Environmental Bureau of the Industrial Hygien Division, in charge of their investgation. Doctor Harry Heimann was in charge of the medical portion of the investigation. During the major portion of the study, the US PHS had on site, 2 doctors, 1 veterinarian, 6 engineers and chemists,5 nurses (who interviewed 1/3 of households), 2 statisticians, 1 denist and 2 med technicans. Lab work for all the air samples was done at Headquarters. Walter H Heocker of the US Weather Bureau was in charge of the meteorolical team on site with several met towers. See the Open Hearing of the Donora Special Investigating Committee, February 9, 1949 2
US PHS published a report: Schrenk, H. H., Heimann, H., Clayton, G. D., Gafafer, W. M., and Wexler, H. (1949, January 1). Air pollution in Donora, Pennsylvania: Epidemiology of the unusual smog episode of October 1948. Public Health Serv. Bull. No. 306 . Washington, D.C.: Public Health Service. See attachment
Estimate of SO2 emissions
During the Donora smog, emissions of sulfur dioxide were estimated to be somewhere around 1,500 to 5,500 micrograms per cubic meter, said Carson. This is much higher, he noted, than the 80 micrograms per cubic meter average currently mandated by the Clean Air Act. 1
A History of Air Pollution Problems
"Pollution from the Donora Zinc Works smelting operation and other sources containing sulfur, carbon monoxide and heavy metal dusts, was trapped by weather conditions in the narrow river valley in and around Donora and neighboring Webster. Air pollution problems were recognized from the facility as early as 1918, when the plant owner paid off the legal claims for causing pollution that affected the health of nearby residents. In the 1920s, residents and farmers in Webster took legal action again against the company for loss of crops and livestock. Regular sampling of the air was begun in 1926 and stopped in 1935." 1
See photos at the end of the post.
Conclusion
In the months that followed, investigations were conducted by the state and federal government. Both traced the disaster to a number of sources, including smoke from Donora’s industrial plants. A million-dollar suit was filed against the operator of the Donora Zinc Works – American Steel and Wire Company. The suit was settled out of court for about $250,000 in April of 1951. The firm, however, denied any responsibility for the disaster despite the government’s findings. It did install a weather station and other air pollution devices as precautionary measures. 3
Zinc Works Closed
Nine years after the smog, the Donora Zinc Works was closed, putting 900 men out of work. Ten years after that, U. S. Steel Corp. closed all its Donora facilities for a total loss of nearly 5,000 jobs. 3
Rembering Those Who Died
Opening of the Donora Smog Museum
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On October 20, 2008, there was a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the opening of the Donora Smog Museum located at 595 McKean Avenue, Donora, PA. It was followed by a Symposium at the Donora Municipal Building with Guest Speaker Devra Davis, author of the book “When Smoke Ran Like Water”, and Stephen Cropper from Channel 4 Action News. 3 For more information see www.donorasmog.com/events.htm
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Devra Davis - When Smoke Ran Like Water
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This is a photograph of the Donora, Pennsylvania looking from the cemetary towards the emissions. The photo is from Devra Davis' web site. Designated a National Book Award Finalist for When Smoke Ran Like Water (2002, Basic Books), Devra Davis is Director of the world’s first Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. She is also a Donora native who was 2 at the time of the smog. |
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Donora Memoral Service
To mark the 50th anniversary of the killer smog, Donora residents and local, state and federal officials held a service yesterday [October 28, 1998] at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Donora to remember those who died and acknowledge how their sacrifice brought improvements to the air we now breathe.
Marcia Spink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's associate director for air programs in Region III based in Philadelphia, gave the keynote address on "the debt of gratitude that the people of the United States owe Donora and the event that led to the federal Clean Air Act of 1970.
"It is definitely tied to the ability of this country to wake up and realize that air pollution isn't just a nuisance but something that makes things so dirty that it can kill people," she said. (see Cleaner Air Is Legacy Left By Donora's Killer 1948 Smog -- , by David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
References
1 Historic Marker Commemorates Donora Smog Tragedy -- November 1995 By David Hess, Secretary Dept. of Environmental Protection (PA). Selected quotes from his paper. Including a 1994 paper by Lynne Page Snyder of the University of Pennsylvania titled, "The Death-Dealing Smog Over Donora, Pennsylvania: Industrial Air Pollution, Public Health Policy and the Politics of Expertise, 1948-1949," describes the event and the response to the disaster and is quoted below. The paper was published in the Spring issue of the journal Environmental History Review. See attachment
2 California University of Pennsylvania, created an extensive report on Donora, PA: The Donora Digital Collection Donora, PA: From its Origins to the Nationwide Case for Clean Air 2 It is a special exhibit devoted to the arduous process of digitally preserving and cataloging hundreds of the primary source materials that have survived the test of time. These materials provide special insight into industrial and social aspects of American life in southwestern Pennsylvania and date from the beginnging of Donora at the turn of the 20th century up to the current period. 2 On the CUP website, they include minutes from the Donora Special Investigating Committee. 2
3 The information presented is quoted from the web site of the Donora Smog Museum with permission of Diane Martin. 3
Other Information
Another report on Donora by J.G. Townsend is available below: Townsend, J. G. (1950, February) Investigation of the smog incident in Donora, Pa., and vicinity. American Journal of Public Health, 40 (2): 183-189. See attachment
Donora Disaster Was Crucible For Clean Air by W. Michael McCabe, Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - See attachment
Photographs and Drawing of Donora
Below: A Department of Defense 1941 photo of Donora, PA.
Below: Charles Shinn Aerial Drawing of Donora, Showing Locations of 1948 Deaths
See other photos attached.
Related Documents: Download or Click on Document Title to Read Description of Document
| 33 | Air Pollution in Donora, PA - PH Bulletin 306 | |||
| 49 | Donora Disaster Was Crucible For Clean Air | |||
| 50 | Historic Marker Commemorates Donora Smog Tragedy | |||
| 48 | Investigation of the smog incident in Donora, Pa |
Related Photos: Click on the photo to enlarge Click on the title to see the full description
| 44 | American Steel and Wire Company's Blast Furnace Donora Smog of 1948 American Steel and Wire Company's Blast Furnace in front of a horse and wagon California University of Pennsylvania, created an extensive report on Donora, PA: The Donora … |
| 45 | Donora-Webster Bridge going across the Monongahela River Donora Smog of 1948 Photo showing the the Donora-Webster Bridge going across the Monongahela Rive California University of Pennsylvania, created an extensive report on Donora, PA: The Donora … |
| 43 | Smog Difference in Donora, PA Donora Smog of 1948 Three photos from same location showing smog difference in Donora, PA California University of Pennsylvania, created an extensive report on Donora, PA: The Donora Digital … |
| 42 | Smoke from the mill, a view from Webster, PA, to Donora Donora Smog of 1948 Smoke from the mill, a view from Webster, PA, to Donora California University of Pennsylvania, created an extensive report on Donora, PA: The Donora Digital Collection … |
| 41 | The Wire Mill, Donora, PA Donora Smog of 1948 The Wire Mill, Donora, PA, taken by Bruce Dresbach in 1910. Retrieved from the Library of Congress California University of Pennsylvania, created an extensive report on Donora, … |
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