Water Catastrophes Project - You will research and write a 1 -2 page report on the water catastrophe
of your choosing. Your project must include a visual aid of some sort (create a comic strip, drawing,
painting, song, poem, etc. All rubric criteria must be met.
1. Sandoz chemical spill, severely polluting the Rhine in 1986
2. Selenium poisoning of wildlife due to farm runoff used to create Kesterson National Wildlife
Refuge, and the artificial wetland
3. The Jiyeh Power Station oil spill in the Mediterranean region
4. Effects of polluted water in the Berkeley Pit in the United States
5. Ignition and conflagration (13 times from 1868 to 1969) of the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, United
States
6. Cheakamus River derailment which polluted a river with caustic soda
7. Draining and development of the Everglades
8. Loss of Louisiana Wetlands due to Mississippi River levees, saltwater intrusion through
manmade channels, timber harvesting, subsidence, and hurricane damage.
9. Coral bleaching
10. Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone due to high-nutrient fertilizer runoff from the Midwest that is drained
through the Mississippi River.
11. The artificial Osborne Reef off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States
12. Dumping of conventional and chemical munitions in Beaufort's Dyke, a sea trench between
Northern Ireland and Scotland
13. Marine debris
14. Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef
15. Nurdles, plastic pellet typically under 5mm in diameter
16. Friendly Floatees
17. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
18. Minamata disease, mercury poisoning in Japan
19. Mercury in fish
20. Ocean acidification due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions
21. Love Canal toxic waste site
22. Seveso disaster (1976), chemical plant explosion, caused highest known exposure to 2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in residential populations
23. Bhopal disaster (December 3, 1984, India), leak of methyl isocyanate that took place in 1984
resulted in more than 22,000 deaths.
24. Sandoz chemical spill into the Rhine river (1986)
25. United States Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites in the United States
26. AZF Explosion at a Toulouse chemical factory (2001)
27. 2005 Jilin chemical plant explosions
28. The Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens sites in the city of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, known as
the largest toxic waste site in North America.
29. Release of lead dust into Esperance Harbour.
30. Release of cyanide, heavy metals and acid into the Alamosa River, Colorado from the
Summitville mine, causing the death of all marine life within a 17 mile radius.
31. Release of 20,000 gallons of lethal chemicals (metam sodium, tradename Vapam) into the
Upper Sacramento River near Dunsmuir, causing the death of all aquatic life within a 38 mile
radius.
32. Environmental issues with the Three Gorges Dam
33. Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill
34. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
35. Three Mile Island Nuclear Explosion
36. Sidoarjo Mud Flow
37. Deep water horizon (BPoil spill)
38. Amoco Cadiz
39. Ecocide in Vietnam
40. Minamata Disease in Japan
41. E–waste in Guiya China
42. Baia Mare, Romania cyanide spill
43. Shrinking Aral Sea
44. Chernobyl Nuclear Explosion
45. Johnston Flood
46. Hurricane Katrina
47. Hurricane Sandy
48. Indian Ocean Tsunami
49. India Cyclone 1839
50. Bhola Cyclone 1970
51. Yellow River flood (worst flood of all time)
52. Central China Floods – most deadly natural disaster of all time.
53. NC pig farm run-off
54. Pick your own – with approval
Water Catastrophe
Project
Water Catastrophe
Project
Due September 28
Due September 28
Student will fully research the selected water
catastrophe. They will include information such
as where, when, what happened, if it was
natural, accidental, or man-made. The student
will type a 1 – 2 page report, create a visual or
artistic representation of the event, and be
prepared to present the information for 1 -2
minutes. A rubric is presented below for your
use.
Student will fully research the selected water
catastrophe. They will include information such
as where, when, what happened, if it was
natural, accidental, or man-made. The student
will type a 1 – 2 page report, create a visual or
artistic representation of the event, and be
prepared to present the information for 1 -2
minutes. A rubric is presented below for your
use
.