Order of Events? 1.Cuyahoga river catches fire due to blowtorch spark and does $1.5 million in damage. 2.Following the Time Magazine article, the river fire began to draw more attention. Especially among environmentalists, the river fire stood as a clear example of the need to improve the water quality in lakes and rivers. 3.Cleveland industry is booming. 4.federal officials passed a bill that would grant states more insurance that projects aimed at improving water quality would receive federal support. The Cuyahoga River served as a prime example of the need for the bill. 5.Cuyahoga river catches fire again due to a spark from a train track. Lasting 30 minutes it does $50,000 worth of damage. 6.federal water pollution officials pressured four steel companies to "expedite installation of facilities to clean their large waste discharges into the filthy Cuyahoga and Maumee Rivers“. 7.Moes Cleaveland explores mouth of Cayahoga River and establishes settlement of Cleveland 8.The first Earth Day increased awareness for an environmental agenda. 9.The Clean Water Act was passed, "restricting industrial dumping into the nation's waterways". 10.The river catching fire "proved to be the instrumental rallying point in the passage of the Clean Water Act". The Cuyahoga had become a symbol of the need to improve water quality. 11.City Officials lower flammability by breaking up oil patches with high power water hoses.

The Cuyahoga River Fires June 22 nd, 1969

A legacy is established… This was not the first time that the river had caught on fire. Fires occurred on the Cuyahoga River in –1868,1883,1887,1912,1922,1936,1941,1948, and in 1952.

1900’s

Depicts a fire in December of 1952 on the Cuyahoga River $1,500,000 worth of damage

Shows a fireboat breaking up an oil slick on December 19, 1961 (9 years later).

It depicts the aftermath of the June 22, 1969 fire, as the fire boat continues to break up oil slicks. Part of this picture was run on the front page of The Plane Dealer the next day. The caption read, “Flames leaped up from floating oil wastes dumped in the Cuyahoga River by waterfront industries yesterday and burned this trestle and another before a fireboat and units from three fire battalions brought it under control. Lasted 30 min. & damage was $50,000.”next day

TIME reports (August 1 st, 1969) 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"... The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration dryly notes: "The lower Cuyahoga has no visible signs of life, not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes." It is also -- literally -- a fire hazard.

Repercussions of “the Fire” August 1 st 1969, Time Magazine article, the river fire began to draw more attention. Especially among environmentalists, the river fire stood as a clear example of the need to improve the water quality in lakes and rivers. In October of 1969, federal officials passed a bill that would grant states more insurance that projects aimed at improving water quality would receive federal support. The Cuyahoga River served as a prime example of the need for the bill. Also in October, federal water pollution officials pressured four steel companies to "expedite installation of facilities to clean their large waste discharges into the filthy Cuyahoga and Maumee Rivers“. The first Earth Day in 1970 increased awareness for an environmental agenda. In 1972 the Clean Water Act was passed, "restricting industrial dumping into the nation's waterways". The river catching fire "proved to be the instrumental rallying point in the passage of the Clean Water Act". The Cuyahoga had become a symbol of the need to improve water quality.

The Pigeon River Debate

The Pigeon River and Champion Paper In 1908, the CIC Canton paper mill was built on the Pigeon River in western North Carolina,40 miles from the North Carolina/Tennessee border. –River flowing into Canton was crystal clear and well reserved as a prize fishing destination. –Down river from the plant, river was muddy brown with 12 inch high foam masses floating along it. –Rocks located just down river were coated with heavy tar laced with Dioxins, chlorines, and dyes. Tennessee residents noticed abnormal amounts of birth defects and a complete lack of natural life at there end of the river.

Actions Taken! In 1985, Tennessee state residents (Cocke County) solicited help from the EPA, politicians, state agencies, and the media. CIC has made significant improvements to air and water quality, by 1989,the company had invested over $73 million in environmental projects. In September of 1993, CIC completed the $330 million Canton Modernization Project (CMP) involving a new technology called oxygen delignification, trademarked ODTM 100, or 100% substitution of chlorine. The CMP significantly reduced chemical discharges into the wastewater and airstream, and decreased water usage and the color, odor, and foam in the effluent.