January 3-9
→ An Ashland Oil holding tank erupted and dumped 1 million gallons of oil into the Monongahela River (Jan 3)
→ The Army Corps of Engineers reported that the water levels from Lake Erie were decreasing as a reverse of several years of erosion (Jan 4)
→ Governor Casey declared the portions of the PA river system impacted by the oil spill, to be a disaster area. Citizens were to restrict all non-essential water usage. (Jan 4)
→ Ashland Oil admitted that they never had a permit to install the tank that ruptured (Jan 5)
→ It is reported that Acid Rain is spreading rapidly around the globe increasing in some lake water by more than 40% (Jan 6)
→ Pittsburgh residents began suing Ashland Oil for negligence as it is reported that the company claimed a $400 million insurance policy and that the tank had failed stress tests. (Jan 6)