This last fire (6-22-1969) on Cuyahoga River lasted just thirty minutes, but it did approximately $50,000 in damage -- principally to some railroad bridges spanning the river. It is unclear what caused the fire. Prior fires occurred on river in 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, and in 1952. The 1952 fire caused over $1.5 million in damage. Photos: http://csudigitalhumanities.org/exhibits/exhibits/show/citizens-govt-burning-...
http://www.wviz.org/cuyahoga/map.htm - http://www.wviz.org/cuyahoga/
http://www.returnofthecuyahoga.com/
Also see: Lake Erie blooming algae and bacteria -- something not to see or be near to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCEVNpMEDNs
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Having the river on fire for my high school graduation in June 1969 seemed fitting and not surpising. My father, the general counsel of a chemical company, fretted several years earlier when a company plant discharge had completely blocked the flow of the Cuyahoga with its gypsum (Calcium Suflate) content, but it happened during a weeked and a bulldozer opened a channel through it be government agencies reopened the next Monday.
I grew up read 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act case law as a result of my father's work. Through that law the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was sole regulator of water pollution before the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 established the U.S. EPA.
In 1972, while doing a class project with Bob Baker at The State University, we did an interview with the Ohio Department of Health in Columbus and had to provide them with a copy of the CWA since I had it from my father before they had gotten it.
My childhood (1956-1969) was on the Lake Erie shoreline at the end of E. 194th St in Euclid -- eastside of Cleveland -- see: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=41.601... Used tampoons and rubbers floated in an algae/oily scrum on most days. We would splash a path through its 20-30 foot width to get into the still dirty greenish water. The rocky bottom -- mostly wave-smooth paving bricks and concrete chucks from fills extending into the lake -- were slickly coated in aglae. A sunken oil barge five miles off shore added odor and stickiness too.
My grandparents from SE Ohio when visiting us would bring jugs of water to use as they won't even shower at our house due to the "dead fish" smell of the tap water because of the blue-green algae blooms in the Lake. In fact, our shawering made them run from the house.
In the 1950s, me and my two sisters would see who could hold their breaths the longest as our family drove U.S. 21 to the south out of Cleveland through the flats. We also kept our eyes closed to avoid the burning feeling from the air.
As a result, I became an environmental regulator for two decades after college then a USGS scientist.
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This clip is from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZA9OX2joUc
More:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlHiaZFvcXA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRtSwddjovE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM8eAZ5CF8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jxV6BbREfY
http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_ben_stef...
http://florentinefilms.org/thefilms/04_cuy_video.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbiH59w8xzY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgGXwscYyJA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmIRtKEYPBU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZA9OX2joUc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxqEz2el6k8
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6:08
Cuyahoga River Filmby TheshipleySchool858 views
And just think, with Ron Paul as president, and no EPA, we'll be "free" to see this happening again.
sndman1964 1 month ago