Cuyahoga River, in Northeast Ohio, flows through the city of Cleveland and empties into Lake Erie. In the later 20th century, the river was one of the most polluted rivers in America. Because of sewage and human waste dumped by Cleveland city, wastewater poured by unregulated industries, and stormwater with polluted materials flowing into it, no life could live in the river. What is more, the river was caught on fire more than 13 times. The picture above shows that, in 1969, sparks leaking from a passing train ignited pollutants and caused an intense fire. The government realized the seriousness of the problem and enacted several Clean Water Act since then. Thanks to many cleaning actions, the river now become an asset to Cleveland. Amazed by Cuyahoga’s transformation, I believe all of the efforts to protect the river nationwide are worthy.
That’s impressive that the river was able to recover from that terrible pollution. Other cities with unclean rivers should try to follow the example that Cleveland and the Cuyahoga set.