The fable of the burning river, 45 years later

[rangerrebew]

The fable of the burning river, 45 years later
By Jonathan H. Adler June 22, 2014 Email the author

On the morning of June 22, 1969, oil and debris that had collected on the surface of the Cuyahoga River as wound its way through Cleveland caught fire.  The story attracted national attention, and was featured in a report on the nation’s environmental problems in the August 1 Time magazine.  The fire illustrated just how bad the nation’s environmental problems had become by 1969.  As then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson commented in 2011, the fire was evidence of “the almost unimaginable health and environmental threats” from water pollution of the time. After all, as one environmental activist put it, “when rivers are on fire, you know things are bad.” 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/22/the-fable-of-the-burning-river-45-years-later/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f37ca4b10bba

[thackney]

The 1952 fire was far worse.



The Cuyahoga River was once one of the most polluted rivers in the United States as represented by the multitude of times it has caught fire, a recorded number of thirteen starting in 1868.  The most potent blaze occurred in 1952 which caused over $1.3 million in damages however, the most fatal fire happened in 1912 with a documented five deaths.  The 1969 fire, which did not incur maximum damages or fatally wound any citizen, was the most covered incident occuring on the river.

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Cuyahoga_River_Fire