The Deadly Donora, Pennsylvania "Death Smog" of 1948

“The majority of the town council worked in the mill, and some of them had executive jobs, like supervisors. Any suggestion that there could be some problem with the mill itself, which was supporting them financially, was simply something that there was no economic incentive to even entertain.”

Some things never change. Also, the date of the photo is misleading because the metalworks had been belching out smog for over 30 years by 1948.