The 1970s in crisis history

Derailment of a train carrying chlorine and explosive chemicals, leading to a major evacuation in Ontario, Canada.

Partial nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, PA — most significant U.

Supertanker Amoco Cadiz oil spill off the coast of France, an early focusing event for marine pollution policy.

Toxic waste contamination crisis in Niagara Falls, NY, exposing buried chemical waste under a residential community.

Federal statute strengthening U.

National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, established 1977 and periodically reauthorized.

Carter executive order consolidating federal emergency management functions, formally establishing FEMA's operating authority.

Federal agency for emergency management; independent agency from April 1979 to March 2003, then subsumed into DHS.

SCOTUS (5-3) blocked completion of the nearly-finished Tellico Dam under the Endangered Species Act snail-darter listing.