Celebrate: Year of the River
It wasn't that long many years ago that I was explaining to a Missouri denizen that I was from Cleveland, OHIO and not Cleveland, MO hence my funny accent. There was a moment of thought before he honestly asked "Didn't your river catch on fire?". It was an odd moment, to be a third of the way across the country and to know that my hometown wasn't famous for rock and roll (this was 1996, right after the Rock Hall was completed) or Drew Carey's generous grinning face but for the seeming industrial impossibility of water being polluted enough to actually burn.
Not that it was an uncommon practice. Many industrial cities suffered from their main waterways catching on fire as industry and the residents of the cities dumped whatever they wanted into their rivers in an ironic effort to "clean". However our river fire caught the media on a good day and became, well infamous. It is one of those amazing moments where the weakness of a situation evolves into the strength of a city as we are currently poised to delist the Cuyahoga River(or most of it) as a "most polluted river of the Great Lakes"*. The fact that the Cuyahoga River, once infamous for it's ability to burn, has become a thriving navigable and inhabitable waterway, speaks volumes about how public opinion, once swayed to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal, can do so (perhaps with the strong arm of a little federal prodding behind it). Cleveland may still be the butt of stale and old jokes but we have proven that we can make a measurable difference.
Now, as we celebrate 40 years, the EPA and a cleaner river later, we question "How can we take this understanding of actionable ability and harness this accomplishment to change Cleveland's image from a filthy, dirty town to a vibrant and forward looking city?
Happy Anniversary Cuyahoga River. We still have a bit to go.
resources:
Ohio Environmental Law Blog
Ohio History Central
NY Times
Cuyahoga River Recovery
*update - The EPA has not accepted the delisting proposal.
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