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It took decades of clean up work, now the Cuyahoga River is on the mend

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How Many Times Did The River Catch Fire?

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How Many Times Did The River Catch Fire?

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the river had caught on fire 13 times 1969 fire was not the first time the river burned, dating back to 1868. The reason why we're talking about 1969 is because it helped spur action that ultimately led the passage of the clean water act in 1972.

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NOTE: This story was originally published on April 17, 2015.

At the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, the Cuyahoga River had long been a pollution problem. Cleveland had been a major industrial city since the 1880s, and the mayor then called the river "an open sewer through the center of the city."

But when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland in 1969, many believe it became the symbol of out-of-control pollution that was needed to get the Clean Water Act passed.

The word "cuyahoga" means crooked. When you look at a map, the Cuyahoga's path forms a U-shape-beginning in northeastern Geauga County, running south and west, through Akron, then turning back north to Cleveland on Lake Erie.

And in the late 1960s, those last few miles leading to Lake Erie were lined with steel mills and factories. At that time, little had been done to stop the pollution.

"What I really remember was going out on a boat that takes people on river and Lake Erie tours," says Cleveland-native Frank Greenland of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. "And there were fairly big algal blooms going on at that time, and a lot of dead and dying fish. Not a great memory."

LISTEN: "How the Cuyahoga River Fire Helped Create the Clean Water Act"
http://media.alleghenyfront.org.s3.amazonaws.com/mp3/AF041715_Julie_CuyahogaHistory.mp3
Environmental activist Elaine Marsh says her first visit to Lake Erie left her with similar memories. "There were all kinds of signs-'No swimming,' 'No boating,' 'Use at your own risk,' 'Polluted water.' It didn't even look like water. It looked like oil and grease and paint."

Most people blamed industry.

"All of the industries, including in Akron, just dumped their waste in the river-untreated," remembers Ben Stefanski, who was 28 when he was hired as utilities director of Cleveland. "That's was just what the river was there for. We didn't think about the future."

For Stefanski and many others, that changed on June 22, 1969-the day the Cuyahoga River caught fire. In a way, this was nothing new: The river had burned at least a dozen times before, costing millions, and even killing five people.

But 1969 was different.

WATCH: "The Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969"

Newly elected President Richard Nixon had made air and water pollution top priorities. And other issues were boiling over around the country. The Vietnam War. In Cleveland, there were race riots.

"The mayor was Mayor Carl Stokes," Stefanski says. "So, you know, black mayor of a major city-the national press had their reporters here 24 hours a day. Anything that happened in the city, no matter how small, it was reported on by the press. They were living here so they had to tell the story."

A few months after the fire, Time magazine picked up the story and ran a photo of an earlier, much worse fire. Elaine Marsh says that's when Cleveland's burning water shot to national prominence.

"It was a river catching fire," she says. "I think the rest of the country looked at it and was just-that's it. That's over the top. Something has to be done."

Initially, that something was Mayor Stokes using the attention to raise money to clean up the water.

"Carl became a national spokesman," says Ben Stefanski. "He went to Washington, he was before Congress. He was from Cleveland-the city that had dirty water. Plus, he was a black person, so he represented that whole community that was in the inner city that lived along the lake and the rivers."

The Cuyahoga River has caught fire a total of 13 times dating back to 1868. But the fire in 1969, helped spur action that ultimately led to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.

Later that year, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act. It was the precursor to the Environmental Protection Agency, which was established in 1970-the year of the first Earth Day. Elaine Marsh remembers that first Earth Day celebration in 1970. She was setting up a table for the Sierra Club at the University of Akron, expecting few people to show up. But they kept coming.

"Church groups, school groups, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts-it was really amazing. I thought it was going to be four or five tables of people I knew-you know, the usual suspects. And I was really astonished to see all of the people who were so interested and active."

Historian David Stradling, author of the book Where the River Burned, says Mayor Stokes didn't attend Earth Day events. But he continued to speak out on environmental issues.

"He did call politicians kind of frauds on Earth Day-being out there, making speeches about the importance of investing in the environment, and at the same time, going back to Washington and dedicating very little money for this very purpose," Stradling says.

Indeed, President Nixon, who generally supported environmental clean-up efforts, vetoed a bill passed by Congress to create national water quality standards because of the high price tag. Congress overrode his veto. That law was the Clean Water Act.

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How a Burning River Helped Create the Clean Water Act - The Allegheny Front

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NOTE: This story was originally published on April 17, 2015. At the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, the Cuyahoga River had long been a pollution problem. Cleveland had been a major industrial city since the 1880s, and the mayor then called the river "an open sewer through the center of the city."

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Sunday Morning in June 22, 1969 near the Republic Steel Mill

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a smooth area on the surface of water caused by the presence of oil.

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Oil slick definition, a smooth area on the surface of water caused by the presence of oil. See more.

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an accidental release of oil into a body of water, as from a tanker, offshore drilling rig, or underwater pipeline, often presenting a hazard to marine life and the environment.

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Oil spill definition, an accidental release of oil into a body of water, as from a tanker, offshore drilling rig, or underwater pipeline, often presenting a hazard to marine life and the environment. See more.

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$ 1.3 million in damage, $ 3.5 billion towards the purification of the river and development of a new sewer system, and $ 5 billion to the upkeep of the waste water system

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Cuyahoga River Fire Nov. 3, 1952. Courtesy of Cleveland Press Collection at Cleveland State University Library.

Cleveland, OH was once known as a major industrial center within the United States. As the 1960s came to an end, so did the country's reliance on industrialized manufacturing. However, Cleveland continued production which when paired with a lack in sewer and waste disposal regulation maintained the littering of the Cuyahoga River. On June 22, 1969, around 12pm, floating pieces of oil slicked debris were ignited on the river by sparks caused by a passing train. Specifically, following an investigation, the cause was determined to be the oily debris trapped beneath two wooden trestles, rigid support frames, located around the Campbell Rd. hill in Southeast Cleveland. The fire was determined to have reached heights of over five stories and lasted between twenty and thirty minutes. There was reported to be around $50,000 of damages including: $45,000 from the destruction of the bridge owned by Norfolk & Western Railway Co. and $5,000 from the Newburgh & South Shore Railway trestle.

The Cuyahoga River was once one of the most polluted rivers in the United States as represented by the multitude of times it has caught fire, a recorded number of thirteen starting in 1868. The most potent blaze occurred in 1952 which caused over $1.3 million in damages however, the most fatal fire happened in 1912 with a documented five deaths. The 1969 fire, which did not incur maximum damages or fatally wound any citizen, was the most covered incident occuring on the river. This was in part because of the developing precedence that sanitation held over industrial actions; the United States was becoming more eco-aware. Also, due to the shift from industry to technology, waste dumping to recycling Time Magazine produced an article about the incident. This brought mass amount of attention to the Cleveland area and added pressure for hygienic regulation.

Inspired by the 1969 river fire, Congress was determined to resolve the issue of land pollution, not just in Cleveland, but throughout the United States. The legislature passed the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) which was signed into law on January 1, 1970. This act helped establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which would be given the duties to manage environmental risks and regulate various sanitary-specific policies. One of the first legislations that the EPA put-forth was the Clean Water Act (1972), which mandated that all rivers throughout the United States be hygienic enough to safely allow mass amounts of swimmers and fish within the water by 1983. Since the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has invested over $3.5 billion towards the purification of the river and the development of new sewer systems. There is a projection that over the next thirty years the city of Cleveland will further endow over $5 billion to the upkeep of the wastewater system. The river is now home to about sixty different species of fish, there has not been another river fire since 1969, and yearly new waste management programs develop to ensure the sanitation of Cleveland's waterways.

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Cuyahoga River Fire Nov. 3, 1952. Courtesy of Cleveland Press Collection at Cleveland State University Library. Cleveland, OH was once known as a major industrial center within the United States. As the 1960s came to an end, so did the country's reliance on industrialized manufacturing.

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The Cuyahoga River fire was caused by an oil spill which caused and oil slick and floating piles of oil soaked logs and other trash that caught fire