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The US Supreme Court in Griggs v. Allegheny County ruled that airports must compensate people living in the near vicinity for noise and vibrations.
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The first Earth Day and Earth Week was celebrated and millions protested pollution on Earth and their concern for the environment. The event was organized by a 33-member committee in Philadelphia.Organizers later identified 12 anti-environment members of the US House and Senate, 7 of whom son lost their seats.
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The US Noise Control Act of 1972, Public Law 92-574, allowed states or US territories to set noise-control laws.
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The huge British Steel plant at Corby, central England, closed and the site was redeveloped. In 2009 a British court ruled in favor of a group of young people who said pollution from the former steelworks contributed to their birth defects, which included missing fingers and deformed hands and feet.
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California started using its own unique fuel blends to combat air pollution. No other state adopted the standards. A premium for the special blends resulted and became larger as the number of state refineries shrunk.
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Scientists reported a wintertime cloud of air pollution the size of the US over the Indian Ocean. The soot and sulfur cloud covered an area of 3.8 million sq. miles.
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A Tokyo appeals court ordered the Japanese government to pay more than $27 million in compensation to residents affected by noise from a US air base, raising the amount awarded by a lower court.
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Paul MacCready (b.1925), designer of the Gossamer Albatross, died in California. His bicycle powered plane crossed the English Channel in 1979. He founded AeroVironment in 1971 to monitor air pollution.
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Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the US-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.
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In Iran for the second time in a month, heavy air pollution in the smog-filled capital of Tehran, home to over 12 million people, has forced authorities to close government offices and schools and declare a two-day public holiday because of the health dangers of being outdoors.