1969: Cuyahoga River Catches Fire
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 01. 6.09
Image: Plain Dealer
Forty years ago, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire. It was not the first time a river (even the Cuyahoga) caught fire, but like Apollo 8's earthrise photos, it became an important event in the raising of awareness of environmental issues in America. "The burning river mobilized the nation and became a rallying point for passage of the Clean Water Act," and inspired Randy Newman's Burn On. It was important enough that even 35 years after the event, the National Review felt it necessary to deride it as a myth.
Cuyahoga River burning: in 1952 Image Ohio Historical Society
Time Magazine called the river that "oozes rather than flows" and the late night talk show hosts made fun of it. But now the river has come back:
"The fire was a bad thing, sure, but some good came out of it in the end," said Jane Goodman, a South Euclid councilwoman and spokeswoman for the river planning group. "Many people see this fire as being a catalyst for the federal Clean Water Act and other environmental laws."And those laws went a long way toward bringing the river back."
When they checked the river at the time, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency found 10 sick gizzard chad. Period. Now, according to Cleveland.Com:
When the EPA crews went back last summer -- after hearing unexpectedly high unofficial counts from Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District officials who also tally aquatic life in the river -- they found 40 different fish species in the river, including steelhead trout, northern pike and other clean-water fish."It's been an absolutely amazing recovery," said Steve Tuckerman of the Ohio EPA's Twinsburg office, who made those first reports in 1984. "I wouldn't have believed that this section of the river would have this dramatic of a turnaround in my career, but it has."
One can look at the Cuyahoga and see how much has changed, or at the Emory River after the TVA sludge spill last week to see how little has changed. What is clear from both events is that it takes strong environmental protection legislation and government agencies committed to enforcing the rules to clean these messes up and ensure that such disasters don't keep happening.
More on the TVA
Arsenic Levels 300 Times Safe Limits in TVA Coal Spill Water, Independent Tests Show
2.6 Million Cubic Yards of Toxic Coal Ash Slurry Released in Tennessee Dike Burst
Massive Tennessee Toxic Ash Spill May Have Been Prevented by Fixes Rejected by TVA Officials
Lyrics of Burn On by Randy Newman:
Cleveland city of light city of magic
Cleveland city of light you're calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
'Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin' through my dreams
Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on
Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can't make you burn
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I read the national review article and found the author contradicting himself. In one paragraph he says river fires were common in the 19th and 20th centuries and in a following paragraph he says the Cuyahoga fire was a freak accident. The essence of his article is, "Don't worry. The Cuyahoga River fire was no bid deal. Industry was taking care of it without the need for more Federal regulations."
I disagree, if industry is left to take care of things, we won't have anything.
Their ability to defend wrong doing is amazing.
*Bonus - a good portion of the river is in the Cuyahoga National Park, which they have made very bicycle friendly. The area is somewhat diverse and protected, so I think WHERE the sampling took place matters. The exact location of the fire does not matter when there is always an upstream and downstream. Urban sprawl has dramatically increased over the 40 years since the fire and public awareness is not as great as you would assume. The city of Cleveland has some great programs and annual celebrations ~ I just wish that sentiment was spread more evenly throughout the watershed (or the entire state, for that matter).
I wonder what caused that. Spilled gasoline? Oil or coal processing byproducts?
vsk
In answer to vsk, the fuel for the fire was a mixture of floating debris, chemicals, oil, runoff. That part of the river is at the start of the 5-mile shipping channel that ends at Lake Erie. The channel is dredged 26-feet deep, so any current from the natural flowing river slows to a crawl, meaning stuff builds up. In addition to being the location of a steel mill, this part of the river was the original home of Standard Oil's refining plants, which used ditches to move crude from one place along the banks to the other. Lots of leftover crud. The 1969 fire was started when a spark (or, some say, a glob of molten steel) jumped out of a railroad car of red hot steel and landed on a raft of floating debris soaked in flammable who-knows-what. No coal hereabouts, but oil and steel and chemicals.
And for zoesah, yes to all you've said. Remind people that the iver is 100 miles long, and it's the last 50 that gets the attention. Note that sampling takes place mostly between Akron and Cleveland. We invite you to join the Year of the River team, and help us spread that stewardship awareness throughout the region. www.riveryear.org
did this really happen