Here is a selection of some of the best photographs among the EPA's "Project Documerica" collection that shows the impact the EPA has had on the country in the last five decades. An illegal dumping area off the New Jersey Turnpike, facing Manhattan across the Hudson River in 1973. Nearby, to the south, is the landfill area of the proposed Liberty State Park.
Back in 1970, then-President Richard Nixon signed an executive order establishing the Environmental Protection Agency. Just after its creation, the EPA created a photo-documentary project called " Project Documerica ." Its purpose? To "record the state of the environment and efforts to improve it."
Similar to the famous photography program by Rex Tugwell's and Roy Stryker's Farm Security Administration , which depicted daily life in Depression-era America, the project examined the "rapid decaying" of the United States' environment. It focused on "environmental concerns of the early 1970s: water, air, and noise pollution; unchecked urbanization; poverty; environmental impact on public health; and youth culture of the day." The project also showed the country's commitment to solving these problems by showing "positive images of human life and Americans’ reactions, responses, and resourcefulness."
The EPA hired freelance photojournalists all over the country to photograph the outdoors and environmental problems. Some of the photographers by used the project were Danny Lyon, Bill Strode, David Hiser, and Yoichi Okamoto. The project was almost scrubbed due to challenges with photographer salaries and copyright issues.
More than 100 photographers produced over 81,000 photographs. They catalogued around 20,000 images by the National Archives and Records Administration. About 15,000 digital scans in the collection are available to the public online .
Here is a selection of some of the best photographs from the collection, showing the impact the EPA has had on the country in the last five decades.
DaleKerbal on June 1st, 2017 at 16:51 UTC »
"Burning discarded automobile batteries in Houston, Texas in 1972."
WTF??!! Burning lead batteries? :o
grambell789 on June 1st, 2017 at 16:48 UTC »
I believe I read somewhere that there were two fold reasons why the federal government created the EPA and began regulating pollution. First, most factories back then were in cities or very close. Cities attempted to create pollution regulation but it was haphazard and difficult for cities to develop the science to address it adequately. The story of lead in gasoline is an excellent example. Another reason is that in addition to citizens, corporations began suing each other over the impacts of pollution. A prime example is the river fire on Cayuga River in Ohio was happening on a regular basis and damaging railroad bridges. The government recognized that it was impossible to create a judicial system big enough and fair enough to judicate all the cases. The only solution was to create regulation to keep the problems from happening in the first place. I've looked for info on this but most sources including Wikipedia pretty much gloss over much of the process for creating the EPA and early regulation systems. Anyone know of other sources?
teslasmash on June 1st, 2017 at 15:56 UTC »
Oh man, the burning of car batteries pic...
https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/3703572785_36944a6d51_o.jpg?w=1024