Chemical Engineers and Environmental Stewardship

Industrial activities have also long contributed harmful pollutants to the air, waterways and land, but for years few were concerned. Specific incidents began to raise concern among the populace, such as the 1952 London smog blamed for the death of 12,000 citizens, but they were generally considered aberrations. During the 1960s, a number of industrial accidents and widely publicized pollution incidents occurred, which began to galvanize public opinion. Ever since the nascent environmental movement began to take shape, industry has been considered the culprit (mostly true), and the chemical engineer has long been vilified as the perpetrator (far from true).