Stephanie Rogers revisits 7 of the greatest environmental disasters (including the 2008 TVA coal sludge spill) and finds that while they may have left the headlines, serious problems remain.
"When the peace of a community is shattered by man-made disaster – an oil spill, a toxic gas leak, a nuclear meltdown – a scar is left that may fade with passing decades but will never fully heal. While some may be able to clean up and return to a sense of normalcy, others stand fenced-off and unchanged like a silent memorial. Located around the globe, these seven catastrophic environmental disasters have had a profound effect upon the earth and local residents that continues today, as many as 50 years later.
[Disasters include]:
Love Canal Community Contamination ("In 2004, Love Canal was finally declared clean, though most of the neighborhood remains abandoned"); Three Mile Island Nuclear Meltdown ("Cleanup and decontamination of the Three Mile Island accident site cost $975 million and wasn't completed until 1993. Today, Three Mile Island is still in operation, though the generating station involved in the meltdown is no longer used."); Minamata Mercury Poisoning ("Over 2,265 victims have been officially certified by the Japanese government – 1,784 of whom have died – but over 17,000 people have applied for certification."); Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill ("But swaths of oil are still buried just beneath the surface of many beaches and many species affected by the spill are still struggling."); Bhopal Gas Leak ("Union Carbide – now owned by Dow Chemical Company – never cleaned up the contamination and the factory site continues to leak deadly chemicals into the air, soil and water."); TVA Coal Sludge Spill ("TVA estimated that it would have all 2.4 million cubic yards out of the area by 2013, but announced in March 2010 that a complete cleanup is 'technologically impossible.'"); Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster ("People are officially forbidden to live within the 17-mile "Exclusion Zone" around Chernobyl, and radiation levels in the area are still 10-100 times higher than normal "background levels" but several million people continue to live on contaminated land.").
FULL STORY: 7 Biggest Environmental Disasters -- Where Are They Now?

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie