By Richard T. Cartwright, PE, CHMM, (IHMM, AHMP and APICS) Fellow
The saying, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” is more than a cliché. It is a reminder that we must constantly be learning from the past. Here’s a look back at major historical events that happened today in the world of hazardous materials.
November 15, 2012
BP agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department for all criminal claims involving the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for $4 billion and a settlement with the Securities and; Exchange Commission for $525 million. BP also pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of ship’s officers relating to the loss of 11 lives in the explosion in April 2010. The good news for Louisiana is that $1.2 billion would be used to rebuild the barrier islands and to build a Mississippi River freshwater and sediment diversion.
November 15, 1990
U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed the Clean Air Act of 1990, which was enacted to control urban smog, to reduce automobile and air toxic emissions, and to provide enforcement authority necessary to make the new law work. It also provided new initiatives to cut acid rain in half and to promote cleaner automotive fuels.
November 15, 1979
Ted Kaczynksi, American “Unabomber”, struck an airline for the first time when his homemade bomb exploded inside a cargo cabin during a flight from Chicago to Washington, forcing it to make an emergency landing. He was a reclusive anti-technology terrorist who demanded that his 35,000-word manifesto railing against technology be published. His viewpoint was the opposite of the beneficial applications of technology development and proactive hazardous materials management.
November 15, 1971
Intel released the world’s first commercial microprocessor (central processing unit); they are used today to build almost everything from calculators to postage meters and personal computers.
November 15, 1738
Sir William (Frederick) Herschel, British astronomer, was born in Germany. He was the most famous astronomer of the 18th century. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, many new nebulae, clusters of stars and binary stars. He hypothesized that nebulae are composed of stars, developed a theory of stellar evolution and was the first to correctly describe the form of our Galaxy, the Milky Way.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
