{"id":4726857,"date":"2017-04-21T08:30:53","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T08:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/time.com\/?p=4726857"},"modified":"2020-01-14T16:30:58","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T16:30:58","slug":"photos-great-lakes-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"Disturbing Photographs Show Pollution in the Great Lakes Before the Clean Water Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1968, two years before the first Earth Day, LIFE magazine dispatched photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to the Great Lakes to capture a crisis.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lake Erie, the smallest and shallowest of the five lakes, is also the filthiest; if every sewage pipe were turned off today, it would take 10 years for nature to purify Erie. Ontario is a repository for Buffalo-area filth. Michigan, where 16 billion small fish, called seawives, mysteriously died last year, is a cul-de-sac without an overflow pipe, and if Michigan becomes further polluted, the damage may take 1,000 years to repair,&#8221; the magazine explained. &#8220;Huron and Superior are still relatively clean, but they are in danger.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And, statistics aside, the photographs Eisenstaedt produced told the story in lurid browns, oranges and grays, punctuated by the vivid iridescence of the occasional oil slick. As many in the United States were starting to realize, pollution of the American environment seemed to be reaching a point of no return. From that, there was some hope. &#8220;For selfish as well as civic reasons, more has been done in the past three years to clean the lakes than in the preceding 30,&#8221; the article reported.<\/p>\n<p>Though federal water-protection laws did exist already (the Federal Water Pollution Control Act was 20 years old at that point) they were only just starting to get teeth, and technology that would facilitate a clean-up was improving. In 1972, the law was revamped as the Clean Water Act, and the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency made the lakes a priority. They still are, just as they are still under threat from a variety of sources. Though progress has been made on some fronts\u2014Lake Erie has come back from the &#8220;dead\u2014the words of one teenager who wrote to the Secretary of the Interior in the 1960s, and who was subsequently quoted by LIFE, still read as a warning.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was truly amazed,&#8221; he remarked upon visiting a polluted lakeshore, &#8220;that such a great country should not solve this problem before it&#8217;s too late.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726866\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726866 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Down Ohio&#039;s Cuyhoga River glide iceberglike masses of dirty soapsuds. Shimmering in sewage, they are bound for Lake Erie, which is so polluted that scientists say it is almost dead. This crisis of man made cretinism threatens the very existence of the inland seas, which are five of our natural wonders.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Masses of dirty soapsuds glided down Ohio&#039;s Cuyhoga River. Shimmering in sewage, they were bound for Lake Erie.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-01-1024x649.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Masses of dirty soapsuds glided down Ohio&#8217;s Cuyhoga River. Shimmering in sewage, they were bound for Lake Erie.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726869\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726869 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Eyesores abound at rivers edge, in the Cleveland port itself, where left-over litter is used to build unsightly breakwaters. \" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"In the Cleveland port,  litter was used to build unsightly breakwaters.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-02-1024x653.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">In the Cleveland port,  litter was used to build unsightly breakwaters.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726871\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726871 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. The big port has only one commercial fisherman, and Fred Wittal, shown cleaning a meager perch catch, is leaving too.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Fred Wittal, shown cleaning a meager perch catch, was the last of the commercial fishermen in his area.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-03-654x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Fred Wittal, shown cleaning a meager perch catch, was the last of the commercial fishermen in his area.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726872\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726872 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Erie&#039;s curse of the Cuyahoga, which snakes through Cleveland carrying a load of detergents, sewage and chemicals to the lake.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"The Cuyahoga snaked through Cleveland, carrying a load of detergents, sewage and chemicals to Lake Erie.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-04-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">The Cuyahoga snaked through Cleveland, carrying a load of detergents, sewage and chemicals to Lake Erie.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726873\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726873 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. The oil melange is waste from the U.S. Steel Corp. It is shown on the Grand Calumet River, a Lake Michigan tributary where even worms can no longer survive.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"This oil melange was waste from U.S. Steel. It is shown on the Grand Calumet River, a Lake Michigan tributary where even worms could no longer survive.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-05-1024x662.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">This oil melange was waste from U.S. Steel. It is shown on the Grand Calumet River, a Lake Michigan tributary where even worms could no longer survive.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726874\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726874 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Another problem is natural pollutants such as the red clay inflexibly delivered by the Big Iron River.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Another problem was natural pollutants such as the red clay delivered by the Big Iron River in Michigan.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-06-1024x661.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Another problem was natural pollutants such as the red clay delivered by the Big Iron River in Michigan.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726875\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726875 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. On the Canadian shore, a slaughterhouse pipe is the best place to fish for what fish are left.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"On the Canadian shore, a slaughterhouse pipe was the best place to try to catch what fish were left.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-07-650x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">On the Canadian shore, a slaughterhouse pipe was the best place to try to catch what fish were left.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726876\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726876 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Only a shade cleaner is the Detroit River, flowing into Lake Erie.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"The Detroit River flowed into Lake Erie.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-08-1024x674.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">The Detroit River flowed into Lake Erie.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726877\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726877 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Beside the deep, clear waters that inspired Longfellow to write &quot;By the shore of Gitche Gumee,&quot; a waterfall of taconite tailings from the Reserve Mining Co.&#039;s plant at Silver Bay, Minn. spills into Lake Superior at the rate of 20 million tons a year.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"&quot;Beside the deep, clear waters that inspired Longfellow to write &quot;By the shore of Gitche Gumee,&quot; a waterfall of taconite tailings from the Reserve Mining Co.&#039;s plant at Silver Bay, Minn. spilled into Lake Superior at the rate of 20 million tons a year.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-09-672x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">&#8220;Beside the deep, clear waters that inspired Longfellow to write &#8220;By the shore of Gitche Gumee,&#8221; a waterfall of taconite tailings from the Reserve Mining Co.&#8217;s plant at Silver Bay, Minn. spilled into Lake Superior at the rate of 20 million tons a year.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726878\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726878 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Looking like a giant glob of beer foam, pulp wastes from the Hammermill Paper Co. stain Lake Erie&#039;s Pennsylvania shore. The white mess is penned by a dike built of old tires and oil drums, but residue seeps through to foul open waters. Hammermill promised action, either by routing waste to an existing sewage plant or by building a new facility.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Looking like a giant glob of beer foam, pulp wastes from the Hammermill Paper Co. stained Lake Erie&#039;s Pennsylvania shore. The white mess was penned by a dike built of old tires and oil drums, but residue seeped through to foul open waters.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10-1024x666.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Looking like a giant glob of beer foam, pulp wastes from the Hammermill Paper Co. stained Lake Erie&#8217;s Pennsylvania shore. The white mess was penned by a dike built of old tires and oil drums, but residue seeped through to foul open waters.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726879\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726879 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. Lake Erie&#039;s Sterling State Park has been dangerously polluted by septic-tank wastes for eight years, but despite warning signs the state of Michigan still permits swimming.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"In 1968, Lake Erie&#039;s Sterling State Park had been dangerously polluted by septic-tank wastes for eight years, but despite warning signs the state of Michigan still permitted swimming.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-11-1024x661.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">In 1968, Lake Erie&#8217;s Sterling State Park had been dangerously polluted by septic-tank wastes for eight years, but despite warning signs the state of Michigan still permitted swimming.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726880\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726880 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. White Lake, a five-mile-long catch basin on Lake Michigan&#039;s eastern shore, is covered by sewage-fed weeds. \" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"White Lake, a five-mile-long catch basin on Lake Michigan&#039;s eastern shore, was covered by sewage-fed weeds.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-12-662x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">White Lake, a five-mile-long catch basin on Lake Michigan&#8217;s eastern shore, was covered by sewage-fed weeds.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726881\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726881 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. At Green Bay, Wis., paper mill refuse helped turn the municipal beach into a marsh: there has been no swimming here for 25 years.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"At Green Bay, Wis., paper mill refuse helped turn the municipal beach into a marsh: there had been no swimming there for 25 years.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-13-1024x650.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">At Green Bay, Wis., paper mill refuse helped turn the municipal beach into a marsh: there had been no swimming there for 25 years.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726882\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726882 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. The beach at Whiting, Ind., 20 miles from Chicago, was closed 10 years ago. Whiting has a problem in common with other lake communities: it has only one sewer system for human refuse and storm waters. \" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"The beach at Whiting, Ind., 20 miles from Chicago, had been closed for ten years in 1968; Whiting had a problem in common with other lake communities: it had only one sewer system for human refuse and storm waters.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-14-1024x674.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">The beach at Whiting, Ind., 20 miles from Chicago, had been closed for ten years in 1968; Whiting had a problem in common with other lake communities: it had only one sewer system for human refuse and storm waters.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726883\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726883 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. The lake&#039;s (Michigan) big polluters are steel mills and refineries, some of which are clustered along the Indiana Harbor ship Canal, an oily caldron running through East Chicago.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Lake Michigan&#039;s big polluters were steel mills and refineries, some of which were clustered along the Indiana Harbor ship Canal, an oily caldron running through East Chicago.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-15-667x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Lake Michigan&#8217;s big polluters were steel mills and refineries, some of which were clustered along the Indiana Harbor ship Canal, an oily caldron running through East Chicago.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726884\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726884 desc=\"City sewer dumping into a Great Lake.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"A city sewer dumped into a Great Lake.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-16-1024x661.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">A city sewer dumped into a Great Lake.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_4726885\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4726885 desc=\"Caption from LIFE. On the U.S. side of Niagara Falls, nearly raw sewage 71 million gallons a day gushes into Niagara River. To the fury of Canadians, it then pours into Lake Ontario.\" caption=\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"On the U.S. side of Niagara Falls, nearly raw sewage&mdash;71 million gallons a day&mdash;gushed into the Niagara River. To the fury of Canadians, it then poured into Lake Ontario.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-17-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"Color photos of pollution in the Great Lakes in 1968.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">On the U.S. side of Niagara Falls, nearly raw sewage\u201471 million gallons a day\u2014gushed into the Niagara River. To the fury of Canadians, it then poured into Lake Ontario.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation&#8217;s Great Lakes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31476327,"featured_media":4726878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[185,231,1199,1323,1458],"class_list":["post-4726857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-185","tag-alfred-eisensteadt","tag-nature","tag-pollution","tag-time-section-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Earth Day 2017: Jarring Photos of Polluted Great Lakes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation&#039;s Great Lakes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Earth Day 2017: Jarring Photos of Polluted Great Lakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation&#039;s Great Lakes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LIFE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-21T08:30:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-14T16:30:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Disturbing Photographs Show Pollution in the Great Lakes Before the Clean Water Act\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-21T08:30:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-14T16:30:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\"},\"wordCount\":345,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1968\",\"Alfred Eisensteadt\",\"nature\",\"Pollution\",\"Science\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\",\"name\":\"Earth Day 2017: Jarring Photos of Polluted Great Lakes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-21T08:30:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-14T16:30:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation's Great Lakes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1665,\"caption\":\"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Disturbing Photographs Show Pollution in the Great Lakes Before the Clean Water Act\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/\",\"name\":\"LIFE\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"LIFE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/09000230\/logo_global.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/09000230\/logo_global.png\",\"width\":358,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"LIFE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Earth Day 2017: Jarring Photos of Polluted Great Lakes","description":"In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation's Great Lakes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Earth Day 2017: Jarring Photos of Polluted Great Lakes","og_description":"In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation's Great Lakes.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/","og_site_name":"LIFE","article_published_time":"2017-04-21T08:30:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-01-14T16:30:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1665,"url":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Disturbing Photographs Show Pollution in the Great Lakes Before the Clean Water Act","datePublished":"2017-04-21T08:30:53+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-14T16:30:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/"},"wordCount":345,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg","keywords":["1968","Alfred Eisensteadt","nature","Pollution","Science"],"articleSection":["Nature"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/","url":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/","name":"Earth Day 2017: Jarring Photos of Polluted Great Lakes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg","datePublished":"2017-04-21T08:30:53+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-14T16:30:58+00:00","description":"In 1968, LIFE magazine sent photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the damage that had been done to the nation's Great Lakes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/04\/170405-pollution-10.jpg","width":2560,"height":1665,"caption":"Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/nature\/photos-great-lakes-pollution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Disturbing Photographs Show Pollution in the Great Lakes Before the Clean Water Act"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/","name":"LIFE","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#organization","name":"LIFE","url":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/09000230\/logo_global.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/09000230\/logo_global.png","width":358,"height":200,"caption":"LIFE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31476327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4726857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4726878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4726857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4726857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4726857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}