Back in the early days of the EPA, the agency hired about 100 photographers to go take pictures of the nation’s environment. Now, those 15,000 photographs are finally making their way out of the National Archives’ wonky databases and onto the very-slick Flickr Commons.

I’ll have a lot more of these photos going up over the months, but I wrote up the basic story for Wired Science, including the excellent work done by archivist (and all-around good guy) C. Jerry Simmons.

The original director of the EPA project, Gifford Hampshire, hoped to recreate the success the Depression-era Farm Security Administration had in calling attention to the plight of the nation’s rural poor. The new target was the environment. The visual evidence of the nation’s various pollution problems would help justify the existence of the EPA.

But as it happened, the photographers interpreted their task in different ways. What they captured was not simply a portrait of “nature,” but the environment as people knew it and lived in it.

“Documerica’s official mission effectively focused on popular but valid environmental concerns of the early 1970s: water, air and noise pollution; unchecked urbanization; poverty; environmental impact on public health; and youth culture of the day,” wrote archivist C. Jerry Simmons, in a 2009 article on the collection. “But in reaction to the varied pollution, health and social crises, Documerica succeeded also in affirming America’s commitment to solving these problems by capturing positive images of human life and Americans’ reactions, responses and resourcefulness.”

Traffic jams, noise pollution from jackhammers and 747s, and graffiti appear alongside photos of caribou and western landscapes. Coal mining and mudslides mingle with swimming, movie theaters and greased-pig chases.

It’s a remarkable portrait of the early 1970s, when manufacturing still ruled the economy and environmental laws had just begun to regulate the air and water. The photographs show people, technology and biosphere colliding, producing both devastating consequences and innovative solutions.

Of especial interest here are Jack Corn’s photos of coal mining, Marc St. Gil’s oil field photos, Lyntha Scott Eiler’s pictures of Navajo mining, and Charles Steinhacker’s images of nasty industrial facilities. It’s good to remember that companies didn’t just magically stop polluting. Environmental protection took human work and dedication as well as the development of new technologies.

Images: 1. Lyntha Scott Eiler. 2. Jack Corn. 3. Jack Corn.