Burn on Big River
The Cuyahoga River fire of 1969
A brief history of the river
 The Cuyahoga River, in Cleveland, Ohio,
was important because it was one of the
quickest ways to transport goods from the
west (which Ohio was considered in the
1790s) to the east.
 However, it soon lost importance when the
Ohio Canal was built, effectively bypassing
the river completely.
History continued…
 Since people were not using the river to ship
anymore, many factories began to appear in the
Northern section to take advantage of the flowing
water.
 Fast forward to the mid-1800s and people have
switched from water power to steam power.
 Because of the factories and the natural waste
from coal, the river began to get polluted.
History continued…
 As more and more people began to move to
Cleveland, the Cuyahoga became their dump.
 Trash, waste, and even raw sewage went into the
water. However, the main pollutant was oil from
the factories.
 There was no one there to regulate what people
were throwing into the river.
 The Cuyahoga was eventually described as a
“flowing dump.”
The Fires
 The first documented
time the River caught
fire was in 1936, when
a spark from a
blowtorch ignited it.
 This would not be the
last fire for the river.
1952
1952
1952
The 1952 fire
 No one is sure exactly what started the
blaze. Some think it was started by
someone throwing a lit cigarette into the
water and others think it was started by
sparks from a passing train.
 This was the most costly blaze for
Cleveland, causing nearly $1.5 million in
damages, mostly to rail lines held above the
water.
Effects of the 1952 fire
 Even with statewide coverage of the event,
there was not much outrage over the 1952
fire. The reasons for this are:
– Environmentalism was taking a back seat to
consumerism
– Environmentalism was taking a back seat to
global affairs
1969
 It was not until June of
1969 that the River
would catch on fire
again.
 However, this time the
world would eventually
take notice.
 To the left is the only
picture taken of that
fire.
Initial public reaction
 Even though a river was so polluted that it
caught fire, many people took a while to
notice.
 The picture only ran in two papers the next
day.
 The fire chief was not even called out to
investigate. He was quoted as saying, “It
was a strictly run of the mill fire.”
Time Magazine
 It was not until a month later, when Time
Magazine ran an article, that the world was
shown the picture of the fire.
 Time described the Cuyahoga as:
– Some river! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling
with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than
flows. "Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga
does not drown," Cleveland's citizens joke
grimly. "He decays."
Other Quotes
 "The lower Cuyahoga has no visible life, not even low
forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually
thrive on wastes.“
– The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
 "The Cuyahoga will live in infamy as the only river that was
ever declared a fire hazard.“
– Congressman Louis Stokes
 "I will never forget a photograph of flames, fire, shooting
right out of the water in downtown Cleveland. It was the
summer of 1969 and the Cuyahoga River was burning.“
– EPA Administrator Carol Browner
Effects of the 1969 fire
 Time magazine suggested that the mayor of
Cleveland at the time, Carl Stokes, should be held
responsible for the state of the river.
 The interesting thing is that under Mayor Stokes,
the river was actually improving. Fish and other
wildlife were just starting to move back in.
 Mayor Stokes had just helped pass a $100 million
bond to clean up the river a year earlier.
Effects continued…
 Perhaps the most important thing the 1969
fire provided was a crystal clear example
that the state of the environment was in
disrepair.
 Pictures began to resurface of the 1952 fire
and it was not long before environmental
groups were calling for restrictions on water
pollution.
 This led directly to the creation of the…
Effects continued…
 The Clean Water Act:
– Regulates the amounts and types of discharges
into water.
– Made it illegal to dump toxins into water.
– Funded the construction of sewage treatment
plants.
– Passed in 1972 with major changes in 1981 and
1987
Effects continued…
 Federal and State Environmental Protection
Agencies:
– Develop and enforce environmental laws
– Fund state and local environmental protection
funds
– Perform environmental research
– Created in 1970
– http://www.epa.gov
A Timeline of Events
 On the following page there will be some
important events in the Environmental
movement listed.
 Your job will be to create a timeline of these
events and write a sentence or two
describing what role each one played in the
environmental movement.
Events
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Publication of Sand County Almanac
Cuyahoga River fire
Senate hearings about leaded gasoline
Chernobyl meltdown
Creation of EPA
First Earth Day
Publication of Silent Spring by Carson
Montreal Protocol
Passage of the Clean Water Act
Passage of the Clean Air Act