Vintage EPA photos reveal what Midwestern industrial cities looked like before the US regulated pollution
Without EPA regulation, the past could become the future.
In 1973, the EPA held an exhibit of low-pollution vehicles in Ann Arbor, Michigan, largely due to concerns about emissions from gas and diesel vehicles. The men pictured below are checking out a "Sundancer," an experimental electric car.
Over the years, the EPA has spearheaded mass trash removals that focus on toxic chemicals in landfills and stormwater systems nationwide.
In 1973, Mary Workman of Steubenville, Ohio filed a lawsuit against a coal company, accusing it of polluting her water. She holds a jar of undrinkable water from her well in this photo.
This 1973 photo shows the severely deformed spine of a Jordanella fish, due to methyl mercury present in the water in Duluth, Minnesota. The EPA now uses the Clean Water Act to prohibit companies from contaminating water.
Near Cleveland, residents placed old cars along the Cuyahoga River's bank to prevent erosion, as seen in this 1975 photo.
A fire on Northeast Ohio's Cuyahoga River in 1969 (the 13th time it had caught fire) helped inspire the creation of the EPA. The river's discolored water in this 1973 photo is sewage.
Before the EPA, there was little regulation on companies that dumped pollutants into rivers, lakes, and oceans. This 1972 photo shows a burning barge on the Ohio River.
Smog hangs over Louisville, Ohio in this 1972 photo.
In 2010, the EPA estimated that the Clean Air Act prevented over 160,000 early deaths, 130,000 heart attacks, and millions of cases of respiratory illness.
Pollution in industrial cities like Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois, was particularly bad in the '70s.
Near Cadiz, Ohio, a coal company stripped mined the land surrounding this abandoned house.
Coal-mining companies were big polluters in the Midwest in the 1970s. President Trump has promised to bring back the industry, and recently nominated a coal lobbyist as Pruitt's second-in-command at the EPA.
Source: Scientific American
Many Documerica photos show scenes of general life in US in the 1970s, but several also document environmental issues.
Over 125 million Americans live in counties with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association's 2017 "State of the Air" report. Looking at recent air quality data, the ALA points to several cities in the Midwest as the most polluted. (Cities in California overwhelmingly top the list, however.)
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