Donora Death Fog: Clean Air and the Tragedy of a Pennsylvania Mill Town

Amid outcry over the recent train derailment and subsequent leak of vinyl chloride in nearby East Palestine, Ohio, and environmental rights groups’ concerns about emissions from Shell’s ethylene cracker plant in Beaver County, dialogue over the balancing act between commerce and public health continues.

In his well-researched new book, Donora Death Fog: Clean Air and the Tragedy of a Pennsylvania Mill Town, science writer Andy McPhee captures the complexities and seemingly willful ignorance that led to 21 deaths in October 1948 as the Mon Valley town experienced a temperature inversion combined with emissions from the U.S. Steel-operated Zinc Works, where tons of smoke of “a very toxic variety” mixed with a week-long fog, leaving residents gasping for air.

With the event’s 75th anniversary approaching, McPhee sets the record straight through abundant personal accounts and in-depth research that shows how little was understood then about the effects of air pollution. That U.S. Steel used its deep pockets to deflect lawsuits is expected, though local and federal governments had few regulations or oversight to lean on.

While the science of what would come to be known as “smog” gets clear explanation here, even more compelling are the tales of heroism by local physicians and firemen, driven by desperate calls from sickened residents that have them nearly crawling through streets where a Halloween parade was described as “shadows marching by.” Without these heroic people who risked so much to administer adrenaline and oxygen to desperate neighbors, this tragedy could have been much worse.

What makes Donora Death Fog an important and timely read is that it offers perspective and hope that research and awareness can give citizens a voice to make change through laws that hold corporations accountable. Though it does little to help those who perished or died prematurely during that haunting fall week in 1949, McPhee reminds readers that “Donorans today embrace their history . . . birthed in tragedy and instilled with pride” — the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum adopted the slogan, “Clean Air Started Here.”