Turning Silk Purses into Sows' Ears: Environmental History and the Chemical Industry

Recently, environmental historians have called for histories of the environmental damage caused by chemical companies in the era before strict federal regulation, which began in the late 1960s. This article examines how chemical companies, pollution experts, and government agencies defined the problems of pollution and sought remedies for it. With a few exceptions, until the mid-1930s chemical companies dealt with pollution problems in an ad hoc fashion, acting in response to complaints. National attention to water pollution began during the New Deal, when Roosevelt appointed a National Resources Committee and legislation was introduced that would have established federal control of water pollution. These events galvanized the industry to begin to pay systematic attention to water pollution by establishing pollution engineering positions, forming trade association committees, and organizing symposia at professional meetings.