Chernobyl Disaster

  The Chernobyl disaster was a steam explosion that happened in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 26, 1986. On that day operators were performing safety tests on the RBMK reactor (An RBMK reactor is a giant tank that holds radioactive elements) which included putting the reactor in dangerously low power state. During this low-power state, xenon began to build up causing the nuclear fission process to be blocked which also caused the core temperature to rise, making the water to boil and produce steam. The steam makes the nuclear fission more efficient, speeding it up. This produces more heat which boils the water faster, creating more steam. With all this steam built up and no possible way to escape the steam caused an explosion. This steam explosion caused another explosion where graphite was shot into the air creating a chemical reaction that terminated the nuclear reactions in the core and it was so powerful it made a big hole in the reactor building. The disaster resulted in the death of 28 operators and firemen. In the months to come, several others would die because of the amount of radiation that was exposed to them.

The accident caused the largest uncontrolled radioactive release in the environment. Radioactive substances were released into the air for about 10 days and traveled over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and to some extent over Scandinavia and Europe. A forest close to Chernobyl has been named the “Red Forest” because so many trees turned reddish-brown and died after absorbing high levels of radiation. No animals died as a direct result of the explosion but Soviet officers were ordered to shoot any stray animals within the 1000-square-mile this was the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Since there are 11 operational RBMK reactors in Russia changes were made for safety reasons. The Vienna Convention was reformed, to be an international agreement regulating treaties between states. It establishes comprehensive rules, procedures, and guidelines for how treaties are generally operated. (this convention will be exclusively relevant to a nuclear incidents).

     

Yellowstone park blog- Nasir Thompson

     Yellowstone is a wonderful park that can be found in the top northwest of Wyoming. The park was established by the U.S. Congress on March 1, 1872, as the country’s first national park. This park is great if people want to go hiking or sightseeing because this park is filled with animals, plant life, and other sightseeing wonders like geysers and waterfalls. Some animals that you can see in the park are Bison, Bobcat, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, Mountain Lion, Bears, Wolves and etc. Plantlife that you can see at the park are trees like lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, Douglas-fir, and limber pine. When it comes to sightseeing people could see hot springs and basins such as the Mammoth and old faithful hot springs.

 

 Grand prismatic spring

C.E.R.C.L.A - Superfund

Comprehensive

Environmental

Response

Compensation &

Liability

Act

• The Superfund was enacted by congress on December 11, 1980.  

• Created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment.

• Also seeks help from those who released the hazardous substances.

• Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected and the tax went to a trust fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. 

• It was amended in 1986 to ensure complete coverage over the country.

TWO ACTION/CLEANUP TYPES:

1. Removal Actions: 

These are short-term actions authorized by CERCLA. These may be taken to address releases or threatened releases that require a prompt response.

2. Remedial Actions:

These are long-term actions authorized by CERCLA; these permanently and significantly reduce the risk of release of hazardous substances. These actions may only be taken at places on the National Priorities List. To be included on the NPL, a proposed site is first subject to a Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection and then to a Remedial investigation/Feasibility Study.

Cleanup site 

Cleanup site

CERCLA not only ensures that these invaluable removal actions are taken, but also enforces against potentially responsible parties. It promotes strong accountability, community involvement and long-term protectiveness.  One thing that cannot be ensured is perfection, that is up to us and how willing we are to clean up our messes. 

Deepwater Horizon

 On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Fireboat response crews battling the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, April 21, 2010.

The evening of April 20, 2010, a well control event allowed hydrocarbons to escape from the Macondo well onto Transocean's Deepwater Horizon, resulting in explosions and fire on the rig. Eleven people lost their lives, and 17 others were injured. It was all because of the poor management of the company BP. BP paid the trustees up to $8.8 billion, the largest recovery of damages ever for injuries to natural resources, to restore the Gulf.

BP has been ordered to pay $5.5 billion to settle civil damages claims made by the U.S. as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The amount will be paid over the course of 16 years. The well's reserves could keep it leaking for the next 100 years if it isn't capped, meaning it will one day eclipse the Deepwater Horizon spill in terms of volume. Oil continued to wash ashore in many areas, and much of it could not be removed, either because of logistical reasons.BP and Transocean employees aboard the rig had—while engaged in testing procedures—ignored early indications of a problem and thus missed opportunities to prevent a full-scale blowout. Thousands of birds, mammals, and sea turtles were plastered with leaked oil.

Dr. Robert Bullard "The Father of Environmental Justice"

      Dr. Robert Bullard was December 21, 1946, He was born in Elba Alabama. After attending and graduating from high school he attended Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, here he got his Bachelors in History and Government and a minor in sociology. He then furthered his education at Clark Atlanta University here he obtained his Masters in sociology. To wrap up his education he got his Ph.D. at Iowa State where his main focus was Urban Planning. 

   
    In 1979 Linda Mckeever who would later become his wife asked him to collect data on the Bean v. Southwestern Waste Corporation lawsuit. This lawsuit shot off Dr. Bullard's career due to it he decided to go deeper in the environmental science field. 

Eventually Bullard went on to teach at various university's, his alma mater Clark Atlanta university included, the position he had at Clark helped him further pursue his career in environmental justice.

Some major accomplishments that he has are; key to helping President Clinton in the signing of Executive order 12898, another accomplishment is due to all the time he spent in the field of environmental justice he picked up the name "The Father of Environmental Justice" 

Petrified Forest National Park

  At first a National Monument, Petrified Forest is not your usual national park. Located at Navajo, Arizona, and measuring at  85,542 sq miles, Petrified Forest National Park was discovered in 1853 when the southwest became part of the US. During his expedition to find a route for the railroad along the 35th Parallel, Lieutenant Amiel Whipple ran into the huge Petrified Forest. Whipple and his team documented and illustrated their findings being the first Americans to discover the park. Eventually, when the southwest was developed and people began to move in, the Petrified Forest gained a lot of popularity. The Arizona Territorial Legislature asked the U.S. Congress to make it a national park and they were declined, but finally, in 1906, it was made a national park. Then when the Great Depression came around and the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) was formed; they constructed many roads, trails, and structures in the monument. This helped support Arizona’s case and in 1952, Petrified Forest was made in a national park. 

The Petrified Forest National Park is one of many petrified forests in the world. Petrification is a natural process that occurs when all organic material in a tree dies and is replaced by a combination of minerals like quartz, copper, and iron. Once a tree is petrified, the petrified wood is no longer considered wood, and it becomes classified as a stone. The petrification of a forest can take millions of years uninterrupted to complete. This is why there are few petrified forests out in the world, and all of them are national monuments and are carefully protected.

Like any usual desert grassland, Petrified National Forest is filled with a large variety of mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, and plants. And being filled with petrified trees, the petrified forest is home to at least 447 different species of plants including 100 different grass plant species. Some tourists' favorites include the evening primrose, mariposa lily, and the blue fax. Animals in the forest include coyotes, lizards, prairie dogs, scorpions, and many more. The majority of animals are nocturnal and only active in night time, due to the hot daytime temperatures.

 If you're planning to take a trip to Petrified Forest I highly recommend you bring a lot of water because it is really hot, also make sure to buy a piece of petrified wood to take home with you.

Dry Tortugas National Park

 Dry Tortugas National Park 

It is located in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, surrounded by the ocean. The park preserve Fort Jefferson and seven island. The name of the each island are Rogerhead, Garden, Bush, Long, Hospital, Middle and East.

This park has a abundant marine life including turtles, fishes and reefs. And it is also famous for a legend of shipwrecks and sunken treasure.

People can only accessible by water plan or a boat. Visitors can enjoy many leisure activities such as fishing, snorkeling and camping.

History of Dry Tortugas National Park

Spanish explorer Ponce dee Leon first discovered the island in 1513.He surprised by the amount of turtles so he named it “Las Tortugas” which means turtle in Spanish word. Despite the beauty and abundance of nature, there was not enough fresh water to drink. He decided to add “Dry” to warn sailors or any visitors that they should bring fresh water.

The Fort Jefferson is historically important. Fort Jefferson was built in the mid 19th to protect the Americans profitable ocean routes. 1825, a lighthouse was set up in Garden Key to warn incoming ships of dangerous of reefs. Few years later, some states viewed this island as a strategic point to control over the Florida and Mexico gulfs. Therefore the Tortugas park was fortified.