Comments on: Question of the Week: What do you remember about the Cuyahoga River burning?

By: Margaret L Soderberg, MD

Margaret L Soderberg, MD — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:04:22 +0000

When I was a student at the University of Michigan, I had a room-mate from Cleveland. I remember how dramatically the fire demonstrated that the Cayahuga was polluted. Perhaps a harbinger of things to come….

By: Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:24:32 +0000

I was to young to remember the event when it happened, but that didn’t stop people from reminding me of it every time I said I was from Celveland. Still happens to this day. That river became the symbol of a city in trouble. Even after the river was cleaned up and now that the Cleveland Harbor is a national model, the Baltimore Harbor was modeled on it, the bad memories still haunt the town. Lesson to learn here, that kind of envirnomental disaster can have a lasting impact on a community long after the flames die down.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:29:43 +0000

That’s why I don’t remember it, growing up in Cleveland. It wasn’t that remarkable after all.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:12:37 +0000

It shocked the nation while fire fighting crews were unable to initially control it or put it out and represented a clear turning point in what allowable discharges should be.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:35:49 +0000

not much

By: masters

masters — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:17:33 +0000

Masters
jose.villanueva@dla.mil | 131.70.204.120
I want to go back and resurrect the topic concerning “Mutating Coquis”. I wonder if the people (from the start of the blog) speak with scientific facts. Have these people, complaining about mutating ninjas Coquis, measured the biggest Coquis in Puerto Rico? Or better yet, have they kept a log of measurements and keep a track of these mutating scary Coquis? If you do not have the scientific facts then keep your opinions to yourself or say that you are looking for a reason to hate them and they are mutating to your opinion. HMMM, I wonder if the invasive Palm Trees in Hawaii mutating also. Anyways, I make a promise to anyone that if they find a coqui mutating as big as a Dog I will buy them a collar and leash so they can walk them. Ahhh, what the heck, call me and I will walk them for you for free. <> However, maybe they will fight crime. All jokes aside. Why hate? I do not understand; why hate the coqui? Hawaii has many invasive creatures (including people) and plants. Are humans mutating? Please, learn to embrace Nature and its beauty and be careful and respectful of its danger. One last thought. If you fumigate the obnoxious invasive coqui, why not your obnoxious invasive neighbors?
From Keep the coquí alive!, 2009/06/23 at 8:59 AM

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:00:44 +0000

Some other interesting facts:

The photo of the Cuyahoga fire at the portal to this blog on the EPA web page was not the 1969 incident, but rather a 1952 fire that destroyed a rail bridge. The City of Cleveland was sued and wound up paying to replace the bridge.

By 1969, river fires were so common in Cleveland — and many other urban areas — that special detachments of the fire departments were trained to fight fire on the water.

At the time of the 1969 fire, Cleveland had only recently elected the first African-American mayor of a major U.S. metropolitan area. Mayor Carl Stokes reportedly threatened to sue those responsible for making the Cuyahoga flammable. Problem was, that would include practically every upstream discharger.

The 1969 river fire lasted only about thrity minutes, relatively minor compared to others in Cleveland’s history. What made this incident so notorious was the coverage in a widely-read issue of Time magazine. It was the press and the activist spirit of the times — not the magnitude of the actual event — that sparked the landmark legislation to come.

By: Kermit

Kermit — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:28:07 +0000

I was not born yet. The biggest environmental disaster I can remember from growing up was Exxon Valdez…

By: Scott D

Scott D — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:14:39 +0000

I teach an Environmental Ethics class at the University of Phoenix (Sacramento Campus). In 4 years, NONE of my students have even heard of the Cuyahoga River. When I ask where it is, they respond, “Cuyahoga?”. We need more outreach to young adults about the amazing accomplishments achieved through the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Superfund/Brownfields programs, and others. Message: the environment is cleaner and healthier!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:59:01 +0000

I recall the river down near the Flats still being quite pungent in the mid to late 80′s. Not any thing you would want to jump in and take a swim. However, a more scenic part of the river located in Portage and Summit Counties provided us with some cool canoe trips and seining opportunities.