Gregg Eldred

At 11:56 am on June 22, 1969, an oil slick caught fire on the Cuyahoga River just southeast of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland's image is still scarred as people recall how "the river caught fire."  The 1969 fire is the most famous fire on the Cuyahoga River, even though a previous fire in 1952 on the Cuyahoga caused nearly thirty times the amount of damage. No press photo exists of the 1969 fire - news agencies used photos from the 1952 blaze. Yet the day after the 1969 river fire, the two major Cleveland papers both ran front page pictures showing the aftermath of the fire.  Only The Plain Dealer ran a short story on the fire. 

Not until a Time Magazine article on August 1, 1969 did the river fire begin to get national attention.  Eventually the river fire, with its seemingly implausibility, became a rallying point for the environmentalists in their fight for cleaner water.  President Richard Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Act into law in January, 1970.  The Clean Water Act passed three years later in 1972. 

Not exactly one of Cleveland's finest hours, however it drove the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Water Act. After a lot of hard work and billions of dollars, the river has rebounded and is home to many pollution intolerant species. And you can celebrate it's rebirth by hoisting a Burning River Pale Ale.

Link: John Carroll University: The Cuyahoga Revisted

Link: Cleveland.com: Cuyahoga River fire 40 years ago ignited an ongoing cleanup campaign

Comment posted by Stuart McIntyre06/22/2009 03:55:23 PM
Homepage: http://blog.collaborationmatters.com

Thanks for the info, Gregg. Over in the UK, I'd only ever heard the Cuyahoga river mentioned in the REM song, and though I'd learnt a little about the fire from reading up on Michael Stipe's lyrics, I had no idea that so much destruction had been caused.

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Comment posted by Gregg Eldred06/22/2009 10:55:54 PM
Homepage: http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf

@Stuart: A lot of good came from it, but for a long time, the Cuyahoga was a sewer. Literally. We, in Cleveland, still are known for having a river catch fire, which isn't exactly the greatest legacy.

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Comment posted by Joyce06/23/2009 07:45:49 PM

Great article. Info for all the people who don't know about our river.
Thanks

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