Cuyahoga River Pollution Ohio 1967
I grew up in Akron, Ohio on the Cuyahoga River in the 1960s and recall the foaming soap suds (before phosphates were removed from detergents), smell and the pollution. On June 22, 1969 a river fire in Cleveland captured national attention. This event helped spur an avalanche of pollution control activities resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the creation of the federal and state Environmental Protection Agencies. The 1969 fires was not the first. Fires plagued the Cuyahoga River beginning in 1936 when a spark from a blow torch ignited floating debris and oils. The largest river fire in 1952 caused over $1 million in damage to boats and a riverfront office building. By the 1960s the lower Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was used for waste disposal, and was choked with debris, oils, sludge, industrial wastes and sewage. These pollutants were considered a major source of impact to Lake Erie, which was considered dead at the time. The 1969 fire has been the subject of several songs, including Randy Newman's 1972 song "Burn On", R.E.M.'s 1986 song "Cuyahoga", and Adam Again's 1992 song "River on Fire". Over the past 40 years, the river has made a remarkable recovery. The Cuyahoga's story is a particularly apt example for future environmental efforts, because the once burning river can't just be cleaned up and "set aside" as a pristine wilderness park - it runs right through Cleveland, and like most American rivers, the Cuyahoga has to serve widely varying needs - aesthetic and economic, practical and natural, human and animal. The challenge: how to maintain industrial uses of the river near Lake Erie, encourage recreation and entertainment, and yet preserve the nature in and around the river. The 2008 film The Return of the Cuyahoga is a one-hour documentary about the death and rebirth of one of America's most emblematic waterways. In its history we see the end of the American frontier, the growth of industry, the scourge of pollution and the advent of a political movement that sought to end pollution. The film can be purchase from Bullfrog Films at http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/roc.html . For more information on the Cuyahoga River, its pollution and recovery, go to the website of the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization at http://www.cuyahogariverrap.org/ . This clip is from the 1967 film, The Crooked River Dies, produced by WKYC-TV the NBC affiliate in Cleveland Ohio as an episode of the documentary series Montage. The film deals with pollution and waste water treatment along the Cuyahoga River. It was filmed before the infamous fire in 1969. Native Americans called the river "Cuyahoga," which means "crooked river" in the Iroquois language.
