9 Industrial Catastrophes

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ACETYLENE TANK FIRE - Hundreds of tanks continue to burn following a fire and explosion at the Praxair Company in St. Louis on June 24, 2005. Debris was thrown for blocks as tanks exploded. (UPI Photo/Bill Greenblatt) | License Photo | Permalink

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BHOPAL - Greenpeace activists demonstrate in the Indian capital of New Delhi, December 3, to mark the 15th anniversary of the poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, which left nearly 3,000 people dead. Even today, hundreds of thousands of people suffer from breathlessness, poor vision, depression, loss of appetite and hundreds of children have been born with genetic disorders. Nearly 60 people die each month due to diseases linked with gas leak, known as the world's worst ever industrial accident. (jr/str UPI) | License Photo | Permalink

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DEEPWATER HORIZON EXPLOSION - Gathered concentrated oil burns during a controlled oil fire in the Gulf of Mexico on May 5, 2010. The U.S. Coast Guard working in partnership with BP PLC, local residents, and other federal agencies conducted the "in situ burn" to aid in preventing the spread of oil following the April 20 explosion on Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon. UPI/Justin E. Stumberg/U.S. Navy | License Photo | Permalink

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W. VIRGINIA COAL MINE DISASTER - A large drill works above Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Coal Mine on April 7, 2010 in Montcoal, West Virginia. The 560ft rotary drill is drilling a second hole in an effort to release gas from the area where miners were believed to be trapped. UPI/Jeff Gentner/Pool | Permalink

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DIOXIN-CONTAMINATED SOIL IN TIMES BEACH - Officials from the State of Missouri, unveil a sign that will be placed in a new 524-acre park, where dioxin-contaminated soil completely shut down a thriving town in 1982, July 2. Waste oil sprayed on dirt roads in the 1970's, contained dioxin forcing the EPA to completly move the small town in 1982. An incinerator was brought in to burn the soil from the town and 26 other sites in eastern Missouri. Now that all the dioxin-contaminated soil has been burned, the incinerator is being dismantled, shipped to Mexico and the land transformd into green space. UPI Bill Greenblatt | License Photo | Permalink

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BUNCEFIELD OIL DEPOT EXPLOSION - Smoke from the Buncefield oil depot explosion hangs over a housing estate in Hemel Hempstead on December 12, 2005 after an accidental explosion on Sunday morning destroyed the entire complex. Approximately 100 fire crews are trying to extinguish the biggest fire in Europe since the second world war. (UPI Photo/Hugo Philpott) | License Photo | Permalink

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STATEN ISLAND REFINERY EXPLOSION - New York City fire department battle the fire at the Exxon Mobil oil storage facility in the Staten Island section of New York City on Feb. 21, 2003. The accidental explosion and fire occured at the site during the transfer of unleaded gasoline from a barge to the facility located at the edge of Port Mobile near the Outerbridge Crossing that links Staten Island to New Jersey. ep/ Dennis Van Tine UPI | License Photo | Permalink

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TALLMANSVILLE COAL MINE EXPLOSION - Workers from united Drilling Inc. operate drilling equipment in association with WACO Power officials, in attempts to drill an observation hole into a shaft where 13 trapped coal miners miners are believed to be, in Tallmansville, WV on January 3, 2006. Thirteen miners become trapped early Monday morning when an explosion sealed off part of the mine. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) | License Photo | Permalink

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CHERNOBYL - A dosimeter shows a high radiation level near the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl plant April 26, 2006. Today Ukraine marks the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. (UPI Photo/Sergey Starostenko) | License Photo | Permalink