A Dirty History of Casco Bay

A Dirty History of Casco Bay. .
By the summer of 1866, Portland was the largest commercial shipping port in the nation. Industries sprouted up everywhere. Much of their was simply dumpted into rivers, streams, and directly into the Bay., Few realized that we were creating a toxic stew that would someday endanger the health of the Bay's ecosystems and threaten to destroy fish, clams, and the lifelihoods of those dependent upon the Bay and Estuary.,

"The coal dust from the harbor was so thick we had to sweep up the mess every single morning." , Randolph Dominic, Sulkowitch Hardware and Paint Co. Fore Street , , "During the 1950s and 60s when the weather was warm, the Bay smelled awful. Even on hot days, you didn't want to go into the water for fear you'd get sick from swimming." , George Flaherty, Director Portland Public Works 1975-1994

, Where Toxic Traces Remain , Sources of pollution Over the last few hundred years, many industries have come and gone in Casco Bay and Portland Harbor, leaving behind long-lasting pollutants that remain trapped in sediments at the Bay's bottom. While the Clean Water Act of 1972 helped end these "point source" pollutors, challenges to keeping the Bay healthy still remain., 1. You are standing in the same place shown in this 1900 photo. Can you imagine the sounds and smells on the day this picture was taken? Right: This 1914 map shows the Randall and McAllister Coal Wharf located here, other industrial shipping piers, and railroad tracks., 2. Below: Swimmers, East End Beach, 1922. In the 1890s a new sewer system carried human waste away from homes, but straight into Casco Bay. At first, bacteria in the mud could absorb and clean up the sewage., 3. Paint factories like this one on Munjoy Hill (1899) used lead and mercury. Their waste washed into Portland Harbor., 4. 1956: Coal-gas plant on Commercial Street left behind 100 years' worth of carcinogenic coal tars., 5. Dozens of factories and foundries poured heavy metals, cyanide, arsenic, and powerful acids into Casco Bay. Shipyards used copper and toxic paints which also ended up in the Bay. Above: Ten-acre site of Portland Stoneware Co., 1899., 6. As gas stations grew common in the 1950s, gasoline full of toxics began leaking from corroded tanks into the groundwater, then into the Bay , an ongoing, sometimes hidden, problem., Casco Bay over time ,

. Glaciers 22000 years ago , . Climate warms, glaciers retreat Sea levels rise, coastline forms 14500+ years ago , . Productive estuary Sustainable rich habitat , . Pollution builds Industrial era dirty hisotry 1850s - 1970s , . Bay Recovery 1970s - today