An intimate portrait of international water activist Maude Barlow and…
The Return of the Cuyahoga
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
For centuries, the Cuyahoga River has been on the frontier. When the United States was a new nation, the river literally marked the western frontier. But 'civilization' came to the river; by 1870 the river was on the industrial frontier. On the river's banks sprouted a multitude of factories, a booming display of what was called progress. The river, as it flowed through Cleveland, became a foul-smelling channel of sludge, with an oily surface that ignited with such regularity that river fires were treated as commonplace events by the local press.
But then, in 1969, the river burned again, just as a third kind of frontier swept across the nation: an environmental frontier. And the Cuyahoga River became a landmark on this frontier too -- a poster child for those trying to undo the destruction wrought by progress in America.
The Return of the Cuyahoga is a one-hour documentary about the death and rebirth of one of America's most emblematic waterways. In its history we see the end of the American frontier, the growth of industry, the scourge of pollution and the advent of a political movement that sought to end pollution.
The Cuyahoga's story is a particularly apt example for future environmental efforts, because the once burning river can't just be cleaned up and 'set aside' as a pristine wilderness park - it runs right through Cleveland, and like most American rivers, the Cuyahoga has to serve widely varying needs - aesthetic and economic, practical and natural, human and animal. The challenge: how to maintain industrial uses of the river near Lake Erie, encourage recreation and entertainment, and yet preserve the nature in and around the river. It's the same challenge that much of our riparian nation is facing today.
'For years the Cuyahoga River symbolized all that was wrong with the nation's environment. It was polluted, toxic, and even combustible. With his superb eye Larry Hott has captured the story of its decline and near death, its rejuvenation and restoration. His documentary reminds us that rivers flow not just across the American landscape but through the heart of American culture and spirit.' Tom Lewis, author, The Hudson: A History
'Like the crooked river itself, this documentary is a sprawling story that shows how the Cuyahoga has influenced and has been affected by issues as diverse as industry, race, urbanization, history, and most recently, the need of people to reconnect with their natural environment...The diversity of solutions being implemented on the Cuyahoga are fascinating and creative. I have my fingers crossed for their successful implementation and future development...This documentary should be required viewing for those who feel unable to improve their environment. Citizens cleaned up the Cuyahoga, and citizens have the power to make even more profound environmental improvements happen.' Dr. James A. Danoff-Burg, Director, Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth Program - Dominican Republic, Associate Director, Center for the Environment, Economy, and Society, Columbia University
'[The film] relates the Cuyahoga to other rivers in urban areas and indicates that this could be the story of many regions of the country...Successfully weaves together environmental science, history, economics, politics, and social sciences. It could be shown in a variety of high school courses. I think there is a healthy balance between the honest depiction of the environmental wrongs that were done to the river with the uplifting examples of progress and improvements that have been made there.' Amanda Beckrich, Upper School science teacher and JK-12 Sustainability Coordinator, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
'The Return of the Cuyahoga is more than a history of the desecration and restoration of the Cuyahoga River. It is a graphic story of depth and emotion about people who are committed to restoring life to a valued natural resource.' John E. Wear, Director, Center for the Environment, Catawba College
'Much has been said of western water wars and the legacy of abuse of our lakes and rivers, so I wasn't expecting to learn anything new by watching The Return of the Cuyahoga. I was mistaken. This comprehensive, well-produced documentary examines the life, death, and restoration of an urban river within a context of changing social norms with respect to how people relate to the environment...This documentary will be very interesting to those examining the often-difficult path to sustainable development, as well as those concerned about the complexities of urban river ecology and management. Its interdisciplinary approach opens many avenues for discussing the environmental, ecological, social, and political aspects of water resources making it an ideal teaching tool for many different courses.' James Lassoie, Professor of Natural Resources, Cornell University
'The Return of the Cuyahoga is ultimately an uplifting story of hope, that it is in fact possible for large populations of humans to coexist with natural waterways. An excellent addition to public and school library environmental collections.' The Midwest Book Review
'This video is recommended in support of high school and college curricula in American studies, environmental studies, and urban studies. Educators will find the Teachers Guide to be an excellent resource for asking probing questions and suggesting interesting projects related to environmental conservation and environmental activism.' Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State University Libraries, Educational Media Reviews Online
'Rivers become ideal metaphors for where we have been and where we are going. This symbolic power is put to marvelous use in The Return of the Cuyahoga...What emerges from [the film] is a local story of vital national importance.' The Plain Dealer
Citation
Main credits
Other credits
Cinematographers, David Litz, Allen Moore, Stephen McCarthy; music, Judy Hyman, Jeff Claus.
Distributor subjects
Activism; American Studies; Anthropology; Biology; Community; Ecology; Economics; Environment; Environmental History; Fisheries; History; Humanities; Language Arts; Local Economies; Natural Resources; Political Science; Pollution; Rivers; Russian/Slavic Studies; Science, Technology, Society; Sociology; Urban Studies; WaterKeywords
Cuyahoga, waterways, river, western frontier, United States, industry, Cleveland, sludge, 1969 fire, environment, environmentalism, history, wilderness, preservation, Lake Erie, Carl Stokes, Sylvia Hood Washington, fish shocking, shipping, ecological bulkheads, Parma; "The Return of the Cuyahoga"; Bullfrog Films,doc,env; history
WEBVTT
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The Return of the
Cuyahoga is made
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possible by a grant
from Peter B. Lewis
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and by the Cleveland
Foundation, supporting
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good causes and big ideas that
enhance the lives of people
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in greater Cleveland.
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The law firm of
McDonald Hopkins,
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attorneys to grow with,
proud to make our clients
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and communities better.
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The Lubrizol Foundation,
the Abington Foundation,
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the GAR Foundation, the
George Gund Foundation,
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the Northeast Ohio
Regional Sewer District.
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With additional funding from--
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June 22, 1969.
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A quiet night on
the Cuyahoga River.
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Temperature in the low 80s.
00:01:02.940 --> 00:01:04.110
No rain.
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No wind to speak of.
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As usual, oil and
debris accumulate
00:01:09.870 --> 00:01:13.190
at the base of the Norfolk
and Western Railway bridge.
00:01:13.190 --> 00:01:16.720
And as usual, a railroad
car carries molten steel
00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:20.750
across the bridge,
spewing sparks.
00:01:20.750 --> 00:01:26.600
The three essentials for fire--
oxygen, material, and ignition.
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A river is more than a ditch
with an aqueous solution
00:02:06.360 --> 00:02:08.050
that runs through it.
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A river is truly the
heart of the land.
00:02:12.670 --> 00:02:16.780
And the quality of the
river is a direct reflection
00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:19.830
on how people view the
quality of their life.
00:02:24.990 --> 00:02:28.080
The Cuyahoga River
is short and crooked.
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Just 100 miles long, it
flows first south, then north
00:02:32.510 --> 00:02:36.040
as it winds toward Lake Erie.
00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:40.170
But in that brief distance, this
river has moved through history
00:02:40.170 --> 00:02:42.100
and changed it.
00:02:42.100 --> 00:02:47.100
For the story of the Cuyahoga
is the story of America.
00:02:47.100 --> 00:02:51.760
On its wild banks,
industry boomed and banged.
00:02:51.760 --> 00:02:55.140
It was a place where tycoons
and legends were made.
00:02:58.610 --> 00:03:02.570
But unbridled business
broke every law of nature.
00:03:02.570 --> 00:03:06.250
The wild river was
tamed, then poisoned,
00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:07.580
and the environment destroyed.
00:03:14.090 --> 00:03:17.630
Then, in our time, people
woke up to the danger
00:03:17.630 --> 00:03:21.202
and tried to save the river
and the world, quite literally.
00:03:25.090 --> 00:03:26.830
We can bring this river back.
00:03:26.830 --> 00:03:29.460
That is the basic premise.
00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:32.550
This river, the water of
the river sustains life.
00:03:32.550 --> 00:03:34.940
This is our home.
00:03:34.940 --> 00:03:36.370
This is where it all starts.
00:03:36.370 --> 00:03:38.990
So we cannot change the
community until we start with
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this, the Cuyahoga River.
00:03:44.030 --> 00:03:46.670
When the United States
was new, the Cuyahoga
00:03:46.670 --> 00:03:51.870
marked the place where white man
said that civilization ended.
00:03:51.870 --> 00:03:56.380
But civilization had
it in for the river.
00:03:56.380 --> 00:04:01.180
In 1796, a band of surveyors
led by General Moses Cleveland
00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:04.420
came out and surveyed
northeast Ohio.
00:04:04.420 --> 00:04:06.950
They started basically
at the Lake Erie shore
00:04:06.950 --> 00:04:08.900
and worked their way
south with their chains
00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:11.790
and drew straight lines.
00:04:11.790 --> 00:04:14.079
They just followed the
compass and didn't really pay
00:04:14.079 --> 00:04:17.310
any attention to what was
there on the landscape.
00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:19.880
And whether there were
rivers or wetlands,
00:04:19.880 --> 00:04:20.910
it didn't really matter.
00:04:20.910 --> 00:04:23.910
They just marked off the land
for sale in lots and townships.
00:04:26.840 --> 00:04:28.620
One of the towns
they plotted was
00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:30.880
Cleveland, a
struggling settlement
00:04:30.880 --> 00:04:34.840
plunked on the banks
of a useless river.
00:04:34.840 --> 00:04:36.750
The mouth of Cuyahoga
River, where the river
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flowed into Lake Erie,
was full of swamps
00:04:39.650 --> 00:04:41.730
and malarial mosquitoes.
00:04:41.730 --> 00:04:43.870
The early settlers, the
very few who came down here
00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:46.360
in the early 1800s,
settled near the river.
00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:48.290
And at that time, the
mouth was blocked.
00:04:48.290 --> 00:04:50.780
It was very slow flowing.
00:04:50.780 --> 00:04:54.650
For a while, the river
actually retarded the city.
00:04:54.650 --> 00:04:59.270
But our history is the story
of people rearranging nature.
00:04:59.270 --> 00:05:03.440
In 1827, we changed the
Cuyahoga for the first time,
00:05:03.440 --> 00:05:06.070
moving the mouth of the
river by a half mile,
00:05:06.070 --> 00:05:09.910
creating a straighter and deeper
channel for ships and barges.
00:05:09.910 --> 00:05:12.270
At the same time,
new canals connected
00:05:12.270 --> 00:05:16.120
Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:17.310
That changed everything.
00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:20.749
Cleveland was suddenly not
a sleepy little imitation
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of a New England village.
00:05:21.790 --> 00:05:24.760
But it was a mercantile
center on a trade route
00:05:24.760 --> 00:05:28.800
that stretched from Europe
to the Gulf of Mexico.
00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.520
It was a bustling city.
00:05:30.520 --> 00:05:35.130
And that's what brought people
here to make their fortune.
00:05:35.130 --> 00:05:37.335
The fortunes to be
made were of some size.
00:05:39.900 --> 00:05:43.770
In 1870, a young bookkeeper
organized a new company
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on the banks of the Cuyahoga.
00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:47.970
He latched onto an
interesting product,
00:05:47.970 --> 00:05:51.760
a liquid that had been sold as
a cure-all by traveling quacks.
00:05:51.760 --> 00:05:54.160
The product was oil.
00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.124
And the man was
John D. Rockefeller.
00:05:57.124 --> 00:06:01.090
Rockefeller, the architect
of our business age.
00:06:01.090 --> 00:06:04.050
Cleveland was Mr. Rockefeller's
first place of business,
00:06:04.050 --> 00:06:07.110
where he began his rise
to fame and fortune.
00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:09.060
No businessman on
the Cuyahoga could
00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:11.500
match Rockefeller's long
and astonishing success
00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:14.170
at Standard Oil.
00:06:14.170 --> 00:06:16.410
But companies everywhere
mirrored his practice
00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:20.860
of putting waterways to work,
whatever the consequences.
00:06:20.860 --> 00:06:22.940
Rivers were used
for transportation
00:06:22.940 --> 00:06:24.100
and to dispose of waste.
00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:25.280
If you had something you
wanted to get rid of,
00:06:25.280 --> 00:06:26.363
you threw it in the river.
00:06:26.363 --> 00:06:28.410
And that was a way of life.
00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:30.920
Any harm that might stem
from this way of life
00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:33.040
was largely ignored.
00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:34.980
More important things
were happening.
00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.190
Cleveland, the
state's largest city,
00:06:37.190 --> 00:06:41.590
flings its soaring powers
into the blue Lake Erie sky.
00:06:41.590 --> 00:06:44.570
Cleveland, starting in
the late 19th century,
00:06:44.570 --> 00:06:46.440
became the center of
industrial activity,
00:06:46.440 --> 00:06:49.520
was the Silicon Valley
of the Industrial Era.
00:06:49.520 --> 00:06:52.130
This brawny, young
metropolitan giant
00:06:52.130 --> 00:06:54.820
typifies America at its best.
00:06:54.820 --> 00:06:55.740
Steel, fabulous--
00:06:55.740 --> 00:06:59.140
Companies were founded here
to refine oil, to make paint,
00:06:59.140 --> 00:07:02.540
to make steel, varnish,
beer, all kinds of products.
00:07:09.010 --> 00:07:12.520
By 1920, the value of
industrial goods produced here
00:07:12.520 --> 00:07:15.428
is $2 billion.
00:07:15.428 --> 00:07:18.710
That industrial explosion
that took place in cities
00:07:18.710 --> 00:07:22.210
like Cleveland, Chicago,
Detroit, Buffalo,
00:07:22.210 --> 00:07:26.850
was a landmark in 19th- and
20th-century world history.
00:07:26.850 --> 00:07:29.300
One could argue that
nowhere in the world
00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:32.740
was industrial growth so
concentrated, so rapid,
00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:38.400
so powerful as it was in cities
like Cleveland at that time.
00:07:38.400 --> 00:07:41.090
But the Cuyahoga itself
wasn't perfectly suited
00:07:41.090 --> 00:07:44.180
for its role as an
industrial workhorse.
00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:48.060
It may function as an industrial
artery, as they called it,
00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:50.870
but it also was really a river.
00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:54.060
It was so terribly
crooked and narrow.
00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:55.520
It froze in the wintertime.
00:07:55.520 --> 00:07:58.900
It flooded periodically.
00:07:58.900 --> 00:08:00.630
There are aspects
of the naturalness
00:08:00.630 --> 00:08:02.610
of this river that
posed problems
00:08:02.610 --> 00:08:04.960
for the city's economy.
00:08:04.960 --> 00:08:09.800
And so, over time, people
remodeled the river again.
00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.370
Companies lined the riverbanks
with wooden and steel
00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:15.350
bulkheads, making
the last 4 miles more
00:08:15.350 --> 00:08:17.750
like a bathtub than a river.
00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:21.600
In Cleveland, dozens of
bridges spanned the river,
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.290
while upstream, new
dams held back its flow.
00:08:27.260 --> 00:08:29.640
And like a good
sign in the heavens
00:08:29.640 --> 00:08:32.370
is the smoke from
these mills, a sign
00:08:32.370 --> 00:08:36.220
of the forgings and castings
and sheets and wire products
00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:36.720
to come.
00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:44.150
But once upon a time, smoke
was a very positive indicator
00:08:44.150 --> 00:08:47.250
of a community's well being.
00:08:47.250 --> 00:08:51.270
Smoke, steam, flames
symbolized power,
00:08:51.270 --> 00:08:54.370
the power of the industrial
city to change itself,
00:08:54.370 --> 00:08:57.440
to change the world.
00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.860
But the fabulous success of
modern times on the Cuyahoga
00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:03.530
brought some pretty
severe growing pains.
00:09:03.530 --> 00:09:07.500
At first, the idea of pollution
was an unfamiliar one.
00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:10.130
But it was something we
learned all over America.
00:09:10.130 --> 00:09:12.985
And people on the
Cuyahoga learned it early.
00:09:12.985 --> 00:09:16.220
Well, when I was a little
boy, I lived in Akron.
00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:19.150
I lived right next to
one of the biggest tire
00:09:19.150 --> 00:09:20.610
makers in the world.
00:09:20.610 --> 00:09:22.610
And my father took the
tires out of the molds
00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:23.950
and stacked them on a truck.
00:09:23.950 --> 00:09:26.540
It was a dirty job.
00:09:26.540 --> 00:09:29.160
My father would come home from
work at the end of the day.
00:09:29.160 --> 00:09:33.824
And he would have taken a shower
at work and cleaned himself up
00:09:33.824 --> 00:09:35.740
and come home and take
a shower and go to bed.
00:09:35.740 --> 00:09:36.920
And when he'd get
up in the morning,
00:09:36.920 --> 00:09:39.010
a shadow would still be laying
in the bed from all the lamp
00:09:39.010 --> 00:09:40.384
black and the
chemicals and stuff
00:09:40.384 --> 00:09:43.150
that he used in working
in the rubber industry.
00:09:43.150 --> 00:09:46.310
These chemicals were
left in bags and on docks
00:09:46.310 --> 00:09:48.340
and just discarded.
00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:50.190
Most of this just
ended up in the river.
00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:59.510
Cleveland is dependent
on no single industry.
00:09:59.510 --> 00:10:00.950
It holds leadership in many.
00:10:03.870 --> 00:10:06.690
By 1950, industries
along the river
00:10:06.690 --> 00:10:10.440
produced a multitude
of products.
00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:14.290
And at the same time, a
multitude of byproducts
00:10:14.290 --> 00:10:17.890
that needed to be thrown away.
00:10:17.890 --> 00:10:20.150
The steel mills were running
with pre-World War II
00:10:20.150 --> 00:10:22.010
technology.
00:10:22.010 --> 00:10:25.770
They produced a tremendous
amount of red dust.
00:10:25.770 --> 00:10:28.690
They didn't take the iron
ore dust out of the air.
00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:29.919
And the sky was orange.
00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:31.960
And, of course, the river
was orange because some
00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:33.430
of the stuff that
they washed out.
00:10:33.430 --> 00:10:37.410
The river was as
orange as orange paint.
00:10:37.410 --> 00:10:40.160
The city works with
pigments, turning out
00:10:40.160 --> 00:10:43.370
vast quantities of paints,
varnishes, and oils,
00:10:43.370 --> 00:10:45.740
products of the largest
paint and varnish companies
00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:48.037
in the world.
00:10:48.037 --> 00:10:49.870
You could see byproducts
that would come out
00:10:49.870 --> 00:10:51.050
of their paint mills.
00:10:51.050 --> 00:10:54.380
Some days it would be red.
00:10:54.380 --> 00:10:55.996
Some days it'd be blue.
00:10:55.996 --> 00:10:59.900
Other days it'd be
green or whatever.
00:10:59.900 --> 00:11:03.080
Research is the new frontier
of American industry.
00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:07.640
In Cleveland, skilled engineers
conduct countless experiments
00:11:07.640 --> 00:11:09.930
in their quest for
knowledge, their search
00:11:09.930 --> 00:11:12.416
for new and improved
methods and products.
00:11:12.416 --> 00:11:15.360
When I graduated from high
school back in the 1960s,
00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:17.910
my plans were to go to
college and become a chemist.
00:11:17.910 --> 00:11:19.830
I got a summer job
at the laboratory,
00:11:19.830 --> 00:11:22.960
working in a section
called industrial coatings.
00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:24.420
And we tested the coatings.
00:11:24.420 --> 00:11:26.904
And we'd spray them on
panels of heavy metal.
00:11:26.904 --> 00:11:28.570
And then we'd test
them in various ways.
00:11:28.570 --> 00:11:31.240
One of the tests was to
immerse them in Coca-Cola.
00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:34.535
The other test was to immerse
them in Cuyahoga River water.
00:11:34.535 --> 00:11:35.910
What they used to
do was actually
00:11:35.910 --> 00:11:38.380
hang the panels in the river.
00:11:38.380 --> 00:11:41.190
And they'd hang
them on metal wires.
00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:44.384
One day, the lab tech went down
to the river to get the panels,
00:11:44.384 --> 00:11:46.300
and they'd dropped to
the bottom of the river.
00:11:46.300 --> 00:11:49.200
Something had eaten
through the wire.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.979
The river water was a tough
test for industrial coatings.
00:11:51.979 --> 00:11:54.270
You never knew what was going
to float down that river.
00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:58.590
Rivers have always
been considered
00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:00.580
as handy dumping places.
00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:02.335
The Cuyahoga was no exception.
00:12:05.110 --> 00:12:08.070
50 years ago, the river
boiled like a cauldron.
00:12:08.070 --> 00:12:11.800
This was all very black,
high petroleum content,
00:12:11.800 --> 00:12:14.840
anoxic, and just
constantly bubbling
00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:16.840
like a stew on t a stove.
00:12:19.510 --> 00:12:22.350
The waters of the Cuyahoga's
industrial flats area
00:12:22.350 --> 00:12:24.340
move very slowly.
00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:27.000
It may take water
from 8 to 30 days
00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.680
to move through the
channel to the lake.
00:12:30.680 --> 00:12:35.940
By this time, the waters of the
crooked river are legally dead.
00:12:35.940 --> 00:12:40.200
The city, like the river,
had been left for dead.
00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:45.650
By the late 1960s, it had
happened all over the country.
00:12:45.650 --> 00:12:48.555
White, middle class people
had fled the inner cities.
00:12:48.555 --> 00:12:52.690
What they left behind
was poverty and rage.
00:12:52.690 --> 00:12:54.650
Race riots broke out.
00:12:54.650 --> 00:12:59.700
In 1966 and 1968,
Cleveland burned.
00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:01.670
There is a sense of loss.
00:13:01.670 --> 00:13:03.910
There is a sense
of frustration in
00:13:03.910 --> 00:13:05.920
the African American community.
00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:08.450
All the resources
are leaving the city.
00:13:08.450 --> 00:13:10.630
And they have no
control of the city.
00:13:10.630 --> 00:13:14.820
And if they can't control
it, then in their opinion,
00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:16.690
they're going to destroy it.
00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:24.080
And fire becomes
this act of power
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:25.530
in the African
American community.
00:13:25.530 --> 00:13:28.029
But it's also something that
is very frightening to everyone
00:13:28.029 --> 00:13:32.825
around the city of Cleveland
because it is out of control.
00:13:38.020 --> 00:13:42.000
In 1969, the Cuyahoga provided
the perfect reflection
00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.270
of the ruined state
of American cities.
00:13:48.300 --> 00:13:52.770
This is the site of the
fire of June 22, 1969.
00:13:52.770 --> 00:13:55.450
It was really a quiet night
on the Cuyahoga River.
00:13:55.450 --> 00:13:55.955
It was warm.
00:13:58.970 --> 00:14:01.770
Tramp oil, paper
products collected
00:14:01.770 --> 00:14:06.220
at the base of the
bridge and created a dam.
00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:11.060
Now, the blast furnaces
transport liquid molten steel
00:14:11.060 --> 00:14:14.100
across this bridge.
00:14:14.100 --> 00:14:16.620
The molten steel spews sparks.
00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:19.240
The hot slag fell
on the dry debris.
00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:20.490
And it caught it on fire.
00:14:20.490 --> 00:14:22.049
Nobody noticed it.
00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:23.840
And there's a wooden
trestle on the bridge.
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.220
Well, it was going good.
00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:26.840
And the wooden
trestle was tarred.
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:27.810
It caught it on fire.
00:14:27.810 --> 00:14:29.380
Fire boat responded.
00:14:29.380 --> 00:14:33.570
And the landside fire
apparatus responded.
00:14:33.570 --> 00:14:35.450
And they extinguished the fire.
00:14:35.450 --> 00:14:37.102
And life went on.
00:14:37.102 --> 00:14:39.310
I used to always wonder what
the firefighters thought
00:14:39.310 --> 00:14:40.476
when they came to the river.
00:14:40.476 --> 00:14:42.510
What exactly are we
going to spray on?
00:14:42.510 --> 00:14:46.230
Maybe we should put
more water in our water.
00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:50.520
I was working for NBC
News, the Cleveland bureau.
00:14:50.520 --> 00:14:52.950
We heard on the police
scanner that there
00:14:52.950 --> 00:14:55.809
was a fire along the
river and checked
00:14:55.809 --> 00:14:56.850
with the fire department.
00:14:56.850 --> 00:14:59.650
They said it was a
fairly minor thing.
00:14:59.650 --> 00:15:01.350
Railroad trestle was
damaged somewhat.
00:15:01.350 --> 00:15:02.620
Nobody was hurt.
00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:05.090
Not a great deal of damage.
00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:09.770
It was a relatively minor story.
00:15:09.770 --> 00:15:12.500
Now, this is the interesting
part about the Cuyahoga River
00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:13.140
burning.
00:15:13.140 --> 00:15:15.950
It was not a unique instant.
00:15:15.950 --> 00:15:18.860
It was not the first
time a river had burnt.
00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:23.120
This was not cherries jubilee or
bananas foster, you understand.
00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.550
But there were fires that were
much more costly than this.
00:15:26.550 --> 00:15:29.750
As far as damage, there was
only about $50,000 damage
00:15:29.750 --> 00:15:30.450
on this fire.
00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:32.580
It's the fire that
everyone talks about,
00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:35.510
when it was actually
one of the minor fires
00:15:35.510 --> 00:15:37.220
on the history of the Cuyahoga.
00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:40.670
In the 19-teens there was a
fire that killed several people.
00:15:40.670 --> 00:15:43.740
The river burned
fairly regularly
00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:46.520
in the 1920s and the 1930s.
00:15:46.520 --> 00:15:50.470
In fact, in the 1930s, there
was a fire that lasted two days.
00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:53.090
There was a fire in 1952
that caused over $1 million
00:15:53.090 --> 00:15:53.970
of damage.
00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:57.590
And that's when the welder's
spark ignited some petroleum
00:15:57.590 --> 00:16:02.110
product on the river and we
lost six tugs here and totally
00:16:02.110 --> 00:16:03.440
destroyed this facility.
00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.640
You can still see the charred
pilings behind me here.
00:16:06.640 --> 00:16:08.160
It wasn't just in
Cleveland where
00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:09.790
we had industrial river fires.
00:16:09.790 --> 00:16:13.380
This occurred on the Rouge River
in Michigan, the Chicago River,
00:16:13.380 --> 00:16:15.520
the Schuylkill River
in Philadelphia,
00:16:15.520 --> 00:16:16.700
the Baltimore Harbor.
00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:19.710
All of these areas caught
fire due to the collection
00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:22.050
of industrial waste and
debris that at the time
00:16:22.050 --> 00:16:23.340
wasn't being cleaned up.
00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:26.600
All of the industrial
cities were polluted.
00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:30.040
So there was nothing
special about Cleveland.
00:16:30.040 --> 00:16:32.570
But something was
special about Cleveland.
00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:34.910
Its mayor.
00:16:34.910 --> 00:16:38.570
I am proud of my Negro heritage.
00:16:38.570 --> 00:16:41.250
But I want it
understood that I am not
00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:44.420
running as a candidate
of the Negro community
00:16:44.420 --> 00:16:47.000
or of any other special group.
00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:48.610
I seek to serve all the people.
00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:52.010
Carl Stokes was not only the
first elected African American
00:16:52.010 --> 00:16:55.650
mayor in Cleveland, he was the
first African American mayor
00:16:55.650 --> 00:16:59.300
of any large American city.
00:16:59.300 --> 00:17:01.770
The grandson of a
slave, Stokes promised
00:17:01.770 --> 00:17:05.130
to give the dispossessed of
his city a powerful voice.
00:17:05.130 --> 00:17:06.890
But his job would not be easy.
00:17:11.084 --> 00:17:13.844
Carl Stokes comes into office
in a city that's decaying.
00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.962
He's like a lot of
mayors who actually
00:17:18.962 --> 00:17:20.170
came into power at that time.
00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:24.630
They're coming into declining
cities, declining populations,
00:17:24.630 --> 00:17:27.820
populations that are
becoming increasingly poor.
00:17:27.820 --> 00:17:31.340
There were environmental
problems, garbage problems,
00:17:31.340 --> 00:17:34.930
polluted water, polluted air.
00:17:34.930 --> 00:17:38.130
But by 1969, a river
catching on fire
00:17:38.130 --> 00:17:42.142
was an event that could capture
the imagination of America.
00:17:42.142 --> 00:17:44.590
This was when Americans
were awakening
00:17:44.590 --> 00:17:47.330
to the costs of
industrial development.
00:17:47.330 --> 00:17:48.940
People were beginning
to be concerned
00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:51.127
about the effects
modern industry was
00:17:51.127 --> 00:17:52.210
having on the environment.
00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:55.645
The '69 fire happens at
just the right moment
00:17:55.645 --> 00:17:59.310
to become the poster child of
the environmental movement.
00:17:59.310 --> 00:18:01.300
It happens only 10
months before Earth Day,
00:18:01.300 --> 00:18:06.440
celebrated around the country
and here in Cleveland too.
00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:10.857
This is in the middle of
this environmental watershed.
00:18:10.857 --> 00:18:12.440
Groups all around
the country, they're
00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:15.070
saying our environmental
situation in the United States
00:18:15.070 --> 00:18:16.340
is dismal.
00:18:16.340 --> 00:18:20.580
But what really brought
it home for everyone
00:18:20.580 --> 00:18:23.370
was to see a river
burning in a major city.
00:18:23.370 --> 00:18:27.110
It was featured in
Time magazine a couple
00:18:27.110 --> 00:18:29.770
of months after it
happened in a new section
00:18:29.770 --> 00:18:34.520
they had called "Environment."
00:18:34.520 --> 00:18:36.110
That issue of Time
magazine happened
00:18:36.110 --> 00:18:39.500
to be the largest-selling
issue in the entire magazine's
00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:42.100
history, for two reasons.
00:18:42.100 --> 00:18:44.190
It was days after
Ted Kennedy had
00:18:44.190 --> 00:18:46.160
his episode at Chappaquiddick.
00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.930
Then two, it was a week
after the moonshot.
00:18:49.930 --> 00:18:53.490
Inside that very well-read
issue was this article
00:18:53.490 --> 00:18:55.180
about the Cuyahoga River.
00:18:55.180 --> 00:18:57.250
And the article itself
talked about Cleveland's
00:18:57.250 --> 00:19:01.120
progressive antipollution laws.
00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:02.525
But the pictures told the story.
00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.080
The image that everyone
associates the 1969 fire
00:19:08.080 --> 00:19:10.840
seared itself into the nation's
environmental consciousness.
00:19:10.840 --> 00:19:14.380
The problem is that picture
wasn't of the 1969 fire.
00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:16.800
It was of an earlier
fire from a time
00:19:16.800 --> 00:19:20.410
when river fires were actually
true infernos on the river
00:19:20.410 --> 00:19:22.070
surface.
00:19:22.070 --> 00:19:25.610
Those are the images we
associate with the 1969 fire,
00:19:25.610 --> 00:19:30.520
even though the 1969 fire
wasn't much of a fire at all.
00:19:30.520 --> 00:19:32.190
Symbols are very
important to politics.
00:19:32.190 --> 00:19:33.850
And the symbol of
a burning river
00:19:33.850 --> 00:19:36.500
could be a catalyst
for political action
00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:39.090
and involvement in a way
that the technical details
00:19:39.090 --> 00:19:41.497
of water pollution
problems might not be.
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.020
When you have the
rioting in Cleveland,
00:19:48.020 --> 00:19:50.850
the city has lost control.
00:19:50.850 --> 00:19:54.470
And so when you have the
Cuyahoga River burning,
00:19:54.470 --> 00:19:58.730
again, I think there's a
sense of things gone awry,
00:19:58.730 --> 00:20:02.000
things gone bad,
things out of control.
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.900
A river on fire was
not just a calamity.
00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:07.900
It seemed a reversal
of the natural order.
00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:12.390
The waters of life had become
the flames of destruction.
00:20:12.390 --> 00:20:15.610
It goes exactly with
Cleveland's own sense of itself
00:20:15.610 --> 00:20:18.810
as imploding and collapsing
and exploding and bursting
00:20:18.810 --> 00:20:19.310
into flame.
00:20:22.630 --> 00:20:24.700
If your river catches
on fire, can we
00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:27.450
be too far away from frogs
falling from the sky.
00:20:27.450 --> 00:20:28.450
Anything can happen now.
00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:30.230
I mean, what next?
00:20:30.230 --> 00:20:31.090
Rich Little.
00:20:31.090 --> 00:20:33.910
The fire sort of sparked
the Cleveland joke
00:20:33.910 --> 00:20:35.300
throughout all of America.
00:20:35.300 --> 00:20:38.710
Have you any idea
how Governor Reagan
00:20:38.710 --> 00:20:43.330
plans to keep Russia
from invading Poland?
00:20:43.330 --> 00:20:46.568
He's going to
rename it Cleveland.
00:20:46.568 --> 00:20:51.050
[LAUGHTER]
00:20:51.050 --> 00:20:53.540
Nobody wants to go there.
00:20:53.540 --> 00:20:58.540
[LAUGHTER]
00:20:58.540 --> 00:21:00.810
After the fire,
Cleveland suddenly
00:21:00.810 --> 00:21:03.720
became The Mistake by the Lake.
00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:07.600
It was just a place where
things had gone wrong
00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:11.960
and people hadn't
controlled the environment,
00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:13.510
the social conditions.
00:21:13.510 --> 00:21:15.435
And I think that for
a while there, it
00:21:15.435 --> 00:21:19.090
was just very difficult
for people to say,
00:21:19.090 --> 00:21:20.240
I'm from Cleveland.
00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:23.360
The big hangup in water
pollution to this date
00:21:23.360 --> 00:21:24.209
has been money.
00:21:24.209 --> 00:21:25.250
Well, it is our feeling--
00:21:25.250 --> 00:21:29.410
Carl Stokes linked environmental
problems with social issues.
00:21:29.410 --> 00:21:32.210
Dirty water and polluted
air were part of the problem
00:21:32.210 --> 00:21:34.940
with America's dying
industrial cities.
00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:39.130
The fire in 1969
fueled his argument.
00:21:39.130 --> 00:21:41.960
It burned in the nation's
imagination and ignited
00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:44.790
grassroots action
across the country.
00:21:44.790 --> 00:21:47.470
In Ohio, people began
small-scale attempts
00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:50.710
to clean up the Cuyahoga.
00:21:50.710 --> 00:21:52.960
Well, there's various kinds
of debris along the banks.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.656
There are areas of considerable
accumulation of trash.
00:21:56.656 --> 00:22:00.290
Well, how much did you pull out?
00:22:00.290 --> 00:22:01.500
There is it.
00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:03.455
Would you like to measure it?
00:22:03.455 --> 00:22:05.330
How would you quantitate
something like that?
00:22:05.330 --> 00:22:07.930
I don't know.
00:22:07.930 --> 00:22:10.840
In a fundraising stunt,
an environmental activist
00:22:10.840 --> 00:22:12.950
went for a slightly
poisonous swim.
00:22:19.950 --> 00:22:21.210
Never again.
00:22:21.210 --> 00:22:22.740
Why?
00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:24.491
That water is really putrid.
00:22:24.491 --> 00:22:24.990
Is it?
00:22:24.990 --> 00:22:25.850
It's really bad.
00:22:25.850 --> 00:22:27.440
Cold?
00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.060
No, just dirty.
00:22:29.060 --> 00:22:31.070
I got a taste of it.
00:22:31.070 --> 00:22:32.300
One taste was enough.
00:22:32.300 --> 00:22:34.950
We have the kind of air and
water pollution problems
00:22:34.950 --> 00:22:39.270
in these cities that are every
bit as dangerous to the health
00:22:39.270 --> 00:22:43.650
and safety of our citizens as
any intercontinental ballistic
00:22:43.650 --> 00:22:46.710
missiles that so
dramatically poise
00:22:46.710 --> 00:22:49.300
5,000 miles from our country.
00:22:49.300 --> 00:22:51.550
Carl Stokes was one of
the political leaders
00:22:51.550 --> 00:22:54.370
that went to Washington and
said we can't do this alone.
00:22:54.370 --> 00:22:55.970
We need help.
00:22:55.970 --> 00:22:58.350
One consequence of
the Cuyahoga fire
00:22:58.350 --> 00:23:00.520
was greater political
pressure for
00:23:00.520 --> 00:23:02.406
additional federal legislation.
00:23:02.406 --> 00:23:03.780
And one of the
things that led to
00:23:03.780 --> 00:23:06.970
was the Clean Water Act of 1972,
when the federal government
00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:10.250
really increased
dramatically its role
00:23:10.250 --> 00:23:13.510
in helping to maintain
water quality.
00:23:13.510 --> 00:23:17.140
The Clean Water Act was
simple, yet wide-ranging.
00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:20.660
Its ambitious goal was to make
American rivers and lakes clean
00:23:20.660 --> 00:23:23.170
enough for people
to swim and fish.
00:23:23.170 --> 00:23:25.630
The act prohibited dumping
hazardous substances
00:23:25.630 --> 00:23:28.430
into the navigable waters
of the United States.
00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:31.550
A new unit, the Environmental
Protection Agency,
00:23:31.550 --> 00:23:34.640
took charge of the cleanup.
00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:37.780
Not surprisingly, the Cuyahoga
was among the first rivers
00:23:37.780 --> 00:23:40.930
to come under EPA scrutiny.
00:23:40.930 --> 00:23:43.550
Companies that had been
dumping for 100 years
00:23:43.550 --> 00:23:47.170
suddenly had to
clean up their act.
00:23:47.170 --> 00:23:50.890
On the Cuyahoga, they formed
the Cleveland Harbor Commission
00:23:50.890 --> 00:23:53.950
and set out to find cleanup
equipment that actually worked.
00:23:57.060 --> 00:24:02.190
Cleanup and response
industry was in its infancy.
00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:04.870
And there was a lot of
design work going on.
00:24:04.870 --> 00:24:09.020
And there was a lot of equipment
coming into the marketplace,
00:24:09.020 --> 00:24:13.140
some of it very experimental.
00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:16.550
Equipment manufacturers
would send marketing people
00:24:16.550 --> 00:24:17.175
to our offices.
00:24:20.670 --> 00:24:23.880
I actually had people create
an oil spill on my desk.
00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:27.230
And they'd have some kind
of model of equipment
00:24:27.230 --> 00:24:29.980
or materials or
chemicals or something
00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:32.980
that they would clean
this all up on my desk.
00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:36.100
And I had to point out to them
that this is all very nice,
00:24:36.100 --> 00:24:39.720
but I've never really had
an oil spill on my desk.
00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:43.040
That was part of the adjustment
their equipment had to make.
00:24:43.040 --> 00:24:46.520
It wasn't just clean oil
on a clean body of water.
00:24:46.520 --> 00:24:50.300
It was bad oil on an
oily body of water
00:24:50.300 --> 00:24:51.440
filled with small debris.
00:24:55.290 --> 00:24:57.700
There were absorbant
type equipment.
00:24:57.700 --> 00:25:01.080
There was some skimmers that
looked like a flying saucer.
00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:02.750
And there was a
lot of things that
00:25:02.750 --> 00:25:04.790
may work in some
conditions, but they just
00:25:04.790 --> 00:25:08.730
didn't work here in our
environment on the Cuyahoga
00:25:08.730 --> 00:25:11.370
River.
00:25:11.370 --> 00:25:13.510
Well, we saw these
people out trying
00:25:13.510 --> 00:25:16.562
to pick up oil on the river.
00:25:16.562 --> 00:25:18.520
I said, I don't know
anything about oil spills,
00:25:18.520 --> 00:25:20.370
but I know this
isn't going to work.
00:25:20.370 --> 00:25:22.450
We ought to do something.
00:25:22.450 --> 00:25:24.750
Frank Samsel did do something.
00:25:24.750 --> 00:25:28.010
With his own money, he
converted a 56-foot-long boat
00:25:28.010 --> 00:25:29.890
into a cleanup machine.
00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:35.300
He called it the Putzfrau,
German for cleaning lady.
00:25:35.300 --> 00:25:40.700
This is a very unique
piece of equipment here.
00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:44.730
It's actually a
vessel, self-propelled,
00:25:44.730 --> 00:25:51.030
with a vacuum tank that could
vacuum up heavy fuel oil
00:25:51.030 --> 00:25:52.545
off the surface of the water.
00:25:57.130 --> 00:25:59.650
The crane on the back end,
it's just a 2-ton crane,
00:25:59.650 --> 00:26:01.530
which was sufficient.
00:26:01.530 --> 00:26:04.920
And we carried a
chainsaw, of course.
00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:09.720
And we had seven men that really
knew what they were doing.
00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:15.090
In about a 16-hour day, we
would move 100 yards of debris
00:26:15.090 --> 00:26:18.960
and about 15,000 to
20,000 gallons of oil.
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:20.940
Now, that's not bad.
00:26:20.940 --> 00:26:22.150
We did it in January.
00:26:22.150 --> 00:26:23.250
And we did it in July.
00:26:23.250 --> 00:26:25.166
And we did it in every
month before and after.
00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:31.390
The way the river
looked in the beginning,
00:26:31.390 --> 00:26:34.050
I was sure that I would
retire and there'd still
00:26:34.050 --> 00:26:35.710
be plenty of work to do.
00:26:38.290 --> 00:26:41.500
But after only six years,
an astonishing condition
00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:43.940
existed on the Cuyahoga.
00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:45.855
Companies had stopped
dumping waste.
00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.770
There wasn't much more for
the Putzfrau to clean up.
00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:55.360
Do I miss it?
00:26:55.360 --> 00:26:57.340
Yeah, I really do.
00:26:57.340 --> 00:27:00.890
It did its job real well.
00:27:00.890 --> 00:27:02.640
And we had the feeling
of accomplishment
00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:03.640
when we were doing that.
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:05.760
When we were picking
up spills on the river,
00:27:05.760 --> 00:27:08.360
it looked better when we were
finished than when we started.
00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:12.192
And so it's like any job
when you clean something up.
00:27:12.192 --> 00:27:14.270
You have personal satisfaction.
00:27:14.270 --> 00:27:15.700
That I miss.
00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:18.360
That I miss.
00:27:18.360 --> 00:27:21.840
The Clean Water Act required
more than just cleanup.
00:27:21.840 --> 00:27:24.210
The government now
conducted frequent testing
00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:25.780
and surveillance.
00:27:25.780 --> 00:27:28.950
They inspected the sites guilty
of what is called point source
00:27:28.950 --> 00:27:30.020
pollution.
00:27:30.020 --> 00:27:33.470
That meant every place where
pipes discharged waste products
00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:35.710
directly into the river.
00:27:35.710 --> 00:27:38.170
10 years after the
celebrated fire,
00:27:38.170 --> 00:27:41.106
the job was at least
partly completed.
00:27:41.106 --> 00:27:42.480
It's the 10th
anniversary of what
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.120
is possibly the most famous
fire in Cleveland history.
00:27:46.120 --> 00:27:48.490
Roger Morris is standing
by with a live action cam
00:27:48.490 --> 00:27:51.010
to fill us in.
00:27:51.010 --> 00:27:54.040
It's been 10 years since the
famous fire on the river.
00:27:54.040 --> 00:27:57.010
And while you can't swim in it,
you can certainly party by it
00:27:57.010 --> 00:27:59.770
and celebrate in the fact
that it has been cleaned up
00:27:59.770 --> 00:28:00.550
quite a bit.
00:28:03.122 --> 00:28:04.830
You can see the
Cleveland Fire Department
00:28:04.830 --> 00:28:06.200
putting on a show
for the people here
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:08.280
to show them what they
can do to fight a fire.
00:28:08.280 --> 00:28:10.360
But hopefully they won't
have to do that anymore.
00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:16.430
Some factories cleaned up.
00:28:16.430 --> 00:28:18.500
Others simply moved away.
00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:21.350
Pollution in the ship channel
slowly came under control.
00:28:24.840 --> 00:28:29.330
But a river's watershed is all
the land that drains into it.
00:28:29.330 --> 00:28:31.610
Even the smallest
tributary upstream
00:28:31.610 --> 00:28:33.750
can affect the
health of a river,
00:28:33.750 --> 00:28:36.460
and it soon became clear
that industry was not
00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:38.130
the whole problem.
00:28:38.130 --> 00:28:40.220
There was another source
of pollution spreading
00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:42.200
over the entire watershed.
00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:44.370
People, ordinary people.
00:28:50.170 --> 00:28:53.920
I've been a watershed ranger for
the city of Akron for 34 years.
00:28:57.770 --> 00:29:02.570
I was hired in 1973,
after the Clean Water
00:29:02.570 --> 00:29:03.590
Act was passed in '72.
00:29:06.740 --> 00:29:08.810
I spent a lot of time
talking to people
00:29:08.810 --> 00:29:12.580
and standing in roadside
ditches, looking at discharges
00:29:12.580 --> 00:29:13.500
from homes.
00:29:16.070 --> 00:29:18.200
We found problems.
00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:20.890
People would have salt and
brine collect in their gas well.
00:29:20.890 --> 00:29:23.440
So they would let it
out onto the ground.
00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.160
People have built houses and
not built a septic system.
00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:29.760
Today in the environment,
we have met the enemy,
00:29:29.760 --> 00:29:30.720
and it is us.
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.100
All of us in little
ways are contributing
00:29:33.100 --> 00:29:34.980
to the environmental
problems that
00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:37.250
are most severe for
cities like Cleveland
00:29:37.250 --> 00:29:38.840
and for the nation as a whole.
00:29:38.840 --> 00:29:40.950
Everybody has to be
responsible for what
00:29:40.950 --> 00:29:44.950
they put on their lawn, their
gardens, their farm fields.
00:29:44.950 --> 00:29:46.920
Cars have been
dripping antifreeze.
00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.480
People dropping motor oil
down the storm sewers.
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:52.050
Bacon grease down the sink.
00:29:52.050 --> 00:29:55.440
Pet waste, when you don't
pick up after your dog.
00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:57.480
Solvents in the hand cleaner.
00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:00.050
All of that gets into
rivers and streams.
00:30:00.050 --> 00:30:03.540
That's a non-point
source pollution.
00:30:03.540 --> 00:30:06.622
And that is the biggest problem
in the Cuyahoga River today.
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.520
In fact, that is
the biggest problem
00:30:12.520 --> 00:30:14.990
with every American river today.
00:30:14.990 --> 00:30:18.010
When you can't pinpoint a
single source of pollution,
00:30:18.010 --> 00:30:19.990
it is staggeringly
difficult to control.
00:30:23.070 --> 00:30:25.860
Even the most pristine
areas of America's rivers
00:30:25.860 --> 00:30:30.490
are threatened, which is
why the Ohio EPA routinely
00:30:30.490 --> 00:30:33.710
goes fishing in the
Upper Cuyahoga River
00:30:33.710 --> 00:30:36.060
with electricity.
00:30:36.060 --> 00:30:39.756
We are in the very farthest
upper reaches of the Cuyahoga
00:30:39.756 --> 00:30:40.255
basin.
00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:48.996
We will be electrofishing
in this part of the Cuyahoga
00:30:48.996 --> 00:30:49.495
River.
00:30:53.250 --> 00:30:54.690
Oh, you let him get away!
00:30:58.060 --> 00:31:01.880
We're going to put an electric
field in the Cuyahoga River
00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:02.420
here.
00:31:02.420 --> 00:31:04.830
And that will make the
fish swim to our boat.
00:31:04.830 --> 00:31:08.740
And we will dip the fish up
and identify each species,
00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:11.869
weigh some of them to find out
what their average weight is,
00:31:11.869 --> 00:31:13.285
and then return
them to the river.
00:31:17.250 --> 00:31:19.990
But it is the law
in Ohio that rivers
00:31:19.990 --> 00:31:23.010
have to have certain
levels of fish communities
00:31:23.010 --> 00:31:26.380
and certain levels of
insect communities in them.
00:31:26.380 --> 00:31:29.910
So in that respect,
Ohio leads the nation.
00:31:29.910 --> 00:31:32.180
And technically,
we lead the world.
00:31:32.180 --> 00:31:36.490
We get inquiries from
Australia and France, Chile.
00:31:36.490 --> 00:31:38.330
All around the world,
there are people
00:31:38.330 --> 00:31:40.250
who want to know what
we do and how we do it
00:31:40.250 --> 00:31:43.630
and how they can do it.
00:31:43.630 --> 00:31:46.280
Now, I'm going to
sort some fish out.
00:31:46.280 --> 00:31:49.868
We have several different
species of suckers in here.
00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:55.940
The biggest threats
to the Upper Cuyahoga
00:31:55.940 --> 00:31:59.920
are things like
non-point pollution.
00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:03.020
If there's a lot of
development in the upper basin
00:32:03.020 --> 00:32:06.500
of the Cuyahoga
River, then that will
00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:09.840
impact on the fish community.
00:32:09.840 --> 00:32:12.220
It'll reduce the
oxygen. It'll reduce
00:32:12.220 --> 00:32:13.530
the visibility of the water.
00:32:17.770 --> 00:32:20.420
Another carp.
00:32:20.420 --> 00:32:25.210
The fish will then respond
to that environmental change.
00:32:25.210 --> 00:32:34.850
He weighs 4,750.
00:32:34.850 --> 00:32:38.960
This area up here would be
considered a habitat-rich area.
00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:42.420
Lots of structure here
for fish to live in.
00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:45.680
Logs and rocks,
trees, undercut banks.
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:53.650
But in the lower river, the
story is quite different.
00:32:53.650 --> 00:32:56.380
Today we are sampling
in the Cuyahoga River
00:32:56.380 --> 00:32:58.270
along the bulkheads
in the ship channel.
00:33:01.030 --> 00:33:03.980
Down here, where there
should be more diversity,
00:33:03.980 --> 00:33:05.910
there's actually less.
00:33:05.910 --> 00:33:08.710
When we shocked for fish
in the Upper Cuyahoga,
00:33:08.710 --> 00:33:10.500
there were almost 20 species.
00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:14.750
There were large individuals,
such as bass and pike and carp
00:33:14.750 --> 00:33:16.570
and catfish.
00:33:16.570 --> 00:33:20.520
Down here, on these steel
walls, there's just no habitat.
00:33:20.520 --> 00:33:22.160
There's no place
for them to live.
00:33:25.710 --> 00:33:27.880
This is a largemouth bass.
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:31.160
And it's fairly
tolerant of pollution.
00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:37.030
This one has probably just
been in here for a short while.
00:33:37.030 --> 00:33:40.040
But if you remember
what we caught upstream,
00:33:40.040 --> 00:33:41.690
this is the biggest we got here.
00:33:41.690 --> 00:33:44.310
So it's just a dwarf
compared to what we were
00:33:44.310 --> 00:33:46.150
catching in the upper river.
00:33:49.470 --> 00:33:52.730
The stream was modified
for shipping traffic.
00:33:52.730 --> 00:33:55.560
And so it's all
vertical bulkhead.
00:33:55.560 --> 00:33:58.010
It's 27-plus-feet deep.
00:33:58.010 --> 00:34:00.990
And there's just
no place for fish.
00:34:00.990 --> 00:34:02.010
There's a lot of water.
00:34:02.010 --> 00:34:05.429
But there's no place for fish.
00:34:05.429 --> 00:34:09.909
That's because fish are not the
priority in the Lower Cuyahoga.
00:34:09.909 --> 00:34:11.750
Ships are.
00:34:11.750 --> 00:34:14.969
Tankers, container
vessels, barges,
00:34:14.969 --> 00:34:17.179
some as long as three
football fields,
00:34:17.179 --> 00:34:20.000
move through
Cleveland every day.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:23.100
The Cuyahoga is a federal
navigable waterway,
00:34:23.100 --> 00:34:26.989
and by law a shipping
lane must be kept open.
00:34:26.989 --> 00:34:28.530
The Cuyahoga River
is really what
00:34:28.530 --> 00:34:30.620
makes transportation
of bulk materials
00:34:30.620 --> 00:34:34.580
possible in northeast Ohio.
00:34:34.580 --> 00:34:36.969
In the Cuyahoga River
in the Cleveland area,
00:34:36.969 --> 00:34:39.570
we'll move as many as
14 to 15 million tons
00:34:39.570 --> 00:34:43.760
a year, raw materials that make
manufacturing and construction
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:45.590
possible in northeast Ohio.
00:34:45.590 --> 00:34:49.100
Iron ore for steel
production, salt, cement,
00:34:49.100 --> 00:34:50.760
construction stone.
00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:54.640
Just one of our 1,000-foot ships
moves the same amount of cargo
00:34:54.640 --> 00:35:04.040
as 7 trains or 700
railcars or 2,800 trucks.
00:35:04.040 --> 00:35:06.590
How can we make this river,
this navigation channel,
00:35:06.590 --> 00:35:10.580
work for both the steel
mills and the environment?
00:35:10.580 --> 00:35:13.470
The answer might be
to design and create
00:35:13.470 --> 00:35:15.420
an ecological bulkhead.
00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:22.250
Ecological bulkheads are
exactly what is currently
00:35:22.250 --> 00:35:25.570
being tested on the Cuyahoga.
00:35:25.570 --> 00:35:27.690
These keep the
shipping channel open
00:35:27.690 --> 00:35:30.090
but also include pockets
of natural habitats
00:35:30.090 --> 00:35:31.260
for plants and fish.
00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:40.150
It's a solution that might
work almost anywhere,
00:35:40.150 --> 00:35:42.940
a way to restore life
to deadened waterways
00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:44.145
all over urban America.
00:35:47.020 --> 00:35:52.370
If you go to just
about any other part
00:35:52.370 --> 00:35:55.030
of the country where
there are boats,
00:35:55.030 --> 00:35:56.640
it will pretty
much be like this.
00:35:56.640 --> 00:36:02.390
It'll be vertical walls made
out of cement, steel, wood.
00:36:02.390 --> 00:36:06.400
If we can restore habitat
here and show how it works
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:09.050
and lead the way,
we can then apply
00:36:09.050 --> 00:36:12.050
what we've learned in the
Cuyahoga to these other areas.
00:36:12.050 --> 00:36:14.710
And we could have some
phenomenal restoration
00:36:14.710 --> 00:36:17.510
of important
fisheries in America
00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:20.260
that have been destroyed
by modifications that have
00:36:20.260 --> 00:36:21.485
been made to allow shipping.
00:36:24.628 --> 00:36:27.250
A bulkhead shapes a river.
00:36:27.250 --> 00:36:30.920
But the ultimate human tool
for controlling water is a dam.
00:36:33.590 --> 00:36:37.260
There are 75,000 dams
in America today.
00:36:37.260 --> 00:36:39.160
Each one is a symbol
of the conflict
00:36:39.160 --> 00:36:41.730
between man and nature.
00:36:41.730 --> 00:36:44.530
Nothing kindles more argument
between environmentalists
00:36:44.530 --> 00:36:48.220
and businessmen than
a dam on a river,
00:36:48.220 --> 00:36:51.020
perhaps because there is
no natural compromise.
00:36:51.020 --> 00:36:55.330
A dam exists, or it does not.
00:36:55.330 --> 00:36:58.410
Dams really don't do
anything good for the stream.
00:36:58.410 --> 00:37:00.820
They take a running,
free-flowing river
00:37:00.820 --> 00:37:03.150
and they make it something
that isn't a river.
00:37:03.150 --> 00:37:05.190
And they make it something
that isn't a lake.
00:37:05.190 --> 00:37:08.405
And both of those are failures
from an ecological standpoint.
00:37:12.150 --> 00:37:15.540
The Gorge Dam, 35 miles
south of Cleveland,
00:37:15.540 --> 00:37:19.000
has not generated electricity
for the past 50 years.
00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:21.480
The Ohio EPA would
like to tear it down.
00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:24.850
But a hydropower company would
like to bring it back online.
00:37:24.850 --> 00:37:26.920
This move to
reharness the dam has
00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:30.310
caused a conflict between
the spiritual value of nature
00:37:30.310 --> 00:37:32.320
and the literal value of energy.
00:37:34.850 --> 00:37:37.970
It was built to make
hydroelectric power.
00:37:37.970 --> 00:37:42.150
We'd like to put it
back to work at a time
00:37:42.150 --> 00:37:44.980
when we need all the renewable
energy resources that we
00:37:44.980 --> 00:37:48.170
can find in this country.
00:37:48.170 --> 00:37:50.560
The dam causes
harm to the river.
00:37:50.560 --> 00:37:52.620
The impoundment behind
the dam disturbs
00:37:52.620 --> 00:37:54.730
the habitat in the stream.
00:37:54.730 --> 00:37:57.250
And as a result, the fish
community behind the dam
00:37:57.250 --> 00:37:59.870
is not meeting the goals
of the Clean Water Act.
00:37:59.870 --> 00:38:03.320
The portion of the river
downstream is sediment starved.
00:38:03.320 --> 00:38:07.400
And therefore, we had
excess erosion downstream.
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:09.360
And finally, there is
the physical structure
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:10.490
of the dam itself.
00:38:10.490 --> 00:38:13.680
And that's a barrier
to fish migration.
00:38:13.680 --> 00:38:17.460
There are those who wish
to have the dam taken down.
00:38:17.460 --> 00:38:19.630
That is no small undertaking.
00:38:19.630 --> 00:38:22.620
It's about 10,000 cubic
yards of solid concrete.
00:38:25.830 --> 00:38:29.850
It's over 53 feet high
and 400 feet across.
00:38:29.850 --> 00:38:32.070
And it's holding back
a large pool of water
00:38:32.070 --> 00:38:33.940
and a lot of sediment.
00:38:33.940 --> 00:38:38.300
The dam creates about 2 and
1/2 megawatts of electricity,
00:38:38.300 --> 00:38:41.410
about 11,000 megawatt
hours a year.
00:38:41.410 --> 00:38:45.710
And that's enough for something
like 1,100 to 2,000 homes.
00:38:45.710 --> 00:38:48.060
We don't believe that
the hydroelectric power
00:38:48.060 --> 00:38:50.070
is really worth the
environmental degradation
00:38:50.070 --> 00:38:52.780
that the dam causes.
00:38:52.780 --> 00:38:55.700
Dams are really temporary
structures in the environment.
00:38:55.700 --> 00:38:57.460
They have not been
there all that long.
00:38:57.460 --> 00:38:59.110
And since they've
been placed by men,
00:38:59.110 --> 00:39:01.310
they can be taken out by man.
00:39:01.310 --> 00:39:03.840
Even what seems to be
completely permanent is really
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:06.001
a temporary structure in
the big scheme of things.
00:39:09.850 --> 00:39:12.240
What is permanent in
the scheme of things
00:39:12.240 --> 00:39:16.200
is the conflict
between man and nature.
00:39:16.200 --> 00:39:17.970
In Cleveland, police
had to block off
00:39:17.970 --> 00:39:21.070
this stretch of West
150th because rainwaters
00:39:21.070 --> 00:39:24.750
pooled at least 3 feet
deep under a train trestle.
00:39:24.750 --> 00:39:27.110
And the most emblematic
part of that conflict,
00:39:27.110 --> 00:39:31.890
perhaps, is the everlasting
flow of human waste.
00:39:31.890 --> 00:39:34.580
Few structures are more
indispensable to a city
00:39:34.580 --> 00:39:36.170
than its sewers.
00:39:36.170 --> 00:39:38.820
And nothing tests a
sewer system like rain.
00:39:41.830 --> 00:39:43.810
Every time you
make a parking lot,
00:39:43.810 --> 00:39:46.640
a rooftop, a road,
all that's creating
00:39:46.640 --> 00:39:48.956
more impervious surface.
00:39:48.956 --> 00:39:52.370
And the rain washes off and
carries off all the pollutants
00:39:52.370 --> 00:39:53.550
that are there.
00:39:53.550 --> 00:39:55.990
The water hits those
hard, impervious surfaces
00:39:55.990 --> 00:39:58.750
and just washes off very
quickly into storm drains.
00:40:03.850 --> 00:40:06.380
The storm drains
in northeast Ohio
00:40:06.380 --> 00:40:08.850
are part of an antiquated
sewer system that
00:40:08.850 --> 00:40:12.140
at times mixes rainwater
with industrial waste
00:40:12.140 --> 00:40:13.860
and human waste.
00:40:13.860 --> 00:40:17.070
To keep these sewers from
backing up during heavy storms,
00:40:17.070 --> 00:40:19.940
the system uses combined
sewer overflow pipes
00:40:19.940 --> 00:40:23.330
that dump the untreated waste
directly into the river.
00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:30.030
The primary problem caused
by combined sewer overflows
00:40:30.030 --> 00:40:31.030
is bacteria.
00:40:31.030 --> 00:40:34.620
Since there's wastewater mixed
with stormwater-- wastewater
00:40:34.620 --> 00:40:38.470
contains bacteria-- that can
be a public health hazard.
00:40:38.470 --> 00:40:40.450
The combined sewer
overflow problem
00:40:40.450 --> 00:40:42.090
is not unique to Cleveland.
00:40:42.090 --> 00:40:47.310
Boston, New York, Chicago,
Milwaukee, Seattle, Portland,
00:40:47.310 --> 00:40:48.550
Oregon.
00:40:48.550 --> 00:40:51.070
All of those communities
near large bodies of water
00:40:51.070 --> 00:40:53.710
that urbanized quickly
have combined sewers.
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:03.320
Cleveland is working
on the problem.
00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:05.440
The city is building
several storage tunnels
00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:08.870
to handle overflow,
including one at Mill Creek.
00:41:08.870 --> 00:41:12.085
We're 275 feet down in the
bottom of the Mill Creek
00:41:12.085 --> 00:41:13.420
tunnel.
00:41:13.420 --> 00:41:15.440
Mill Creek flows
into the Cuyahoga.
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:18.340
It's one of numerous tribs
to the Cuyahoga River.
00:41:18.340 --> 00:41:23.260
Each of the tribs have at least
one combined sewer overflow.
00:41:23.260 --> 00:41:26.635
What we're in is really a
20-foot-diameter storage
00:41:26.635 --> 00:41:28.840
tunnel.
00:41:28.840 --> 00:41:33.867
And this tunnel holds 75 million
gallons of overflow when full.
00:41:33.867 --> 00:41:34.950
So what's going to happen?
00:41:34.950 --> 00:41:36.280
The over flows into the tunnel.
00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:39.680
They're held in our tunnel
instead of going to Mill Creek.
00:41:39.680 --> 00:41:41.940
And the stored
flow in this tunnel
00:41:41.940 --> 00:41:45.270
goes to our southerly treatment
plant for full treatment.
00:41:45.270 --> 00:41:47.280
That's a significant
upgrade in terms
00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:49.530
of pollutant removals
from Mill Creek
00:41:49.530 --> 00:41:51.510
and protection of the
Cuyahoga watershed.
00:41:56.710 --> 00:41:59.850
But the upstream cities of
Cuyahoga Falls and Akron
00:41:59.850 --> 00:42:01.147
have a similar problem.
00:42:01.147 --> 00:42:02.980
And they don't have the
hundreds of millions
00:42:02.980 --> 00:42:06.360
of dollars it would take
to fix their systems.
00:42:06.360 --> 00:42:09.300
The city of Akron, like
many cities in America,
00:42:09.300 --> 00:42:13.460
was engineered in such a
way that during rain events,
00:42:13.460 --> 00:42:16.860
sewage enters the
Cuyahoga River untreated.
00:42:16.860 --> 00:42:19.180
The system reaches its capacity.
00:42:19.180 --> 00:42:21.780
Sewage flows directly
into the Cuyahoga River.
00:42:21.780 --> 00:42:24.600
And then for about three
days, the Cuyahoga River
00:42:24.600 --> 00:42:27.910
ceases to be a fairly
clean-flowing stream
00:42:27.910 --> 00:42:32.220
and becomes a kind of sewer
that empties sewage out
00:42:32.220 --> 00:42:35.480
of the city of Akron and
into the city of Cleveland.
00:42:35.480 --> 00:42:37.430
Think about what that means.
00:42:37.430 --> 00:42:40.400
In the 21st century,
we are currently
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:45.400
allowing untreated human
and industrial waste
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:49.290
to regularly flow
into our rivers.
00:42:49.290 --> 00:42:55.410
If I paddle the Cuyahoga
River downstream of Akron
00:42:55.410 --> 00:42:58.460
up to three days after
rain and I fall in,
00:42:58.460 --> 00:43:02.226
I could get sick because
there's so much bacteria
00:43:02.226 --> 00:43:03.350
from these combined sewers.
00:43:06.520 --> 00:43:11.920
If it takes the city of Akron
30 years to clean up the river,
00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:14.350
I will be dead.
00:43:14.350 --> 00:43:20.350
I will never be able to enjoy
the benefits of that 30 years.
00:43:20.350 --> 00:43:25.260
And I sure hope we can
get it clean before that.
00:43:25.260 --> 00:43:27.810
The challenge, here
and everywhere,
00:43:27.810 --> 00:43:30.780
is that the natural world
is becoming smaller.
00:43:30.780 --> 00:43:32.760
The seemingly
endless human sprawl
00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:35.310
means that communities
all around the globe
00:43:35.310 --> 00:43:39.800
are paving over watersheds
and filling in wetlands.
00:43:39.800 --> 00:43:41.680
And it was just this
type of development
00:43:41.680 --> 00:43:44.540
that sparked an environmental
battle in Parma,
00:43:44.540 --> 00:43:46.414
a suburb of Cleveland
just 10 miles
00:43:46.414 --> 00:43:47.705
from the mouth of the Cuyahoga.
00:43:51.600 --> 00:43:54.280
Parma's very much a blue-collar,
working-class community
00:43:54.280 --> 00:43:56.810
over the years.
00:43:56.810 --> 00:44:00.830
The character of Parma dates
back into the 1960s and '70s,
00:44:00.830 --> 00:44:02.860
when it was one of
the fastest-growing
00:44:02.860 --> 00:44:06.640
suburbs in the country.
00:44:06.640 --> 00:44:09.150
A lot of Polish and
other ethnic families
00:44:09.150 --> 00:44:14.660
moving out of Cleveland to the
suburbs, my family included.
00:44:14.660 --> 00:44:16.070
I'm Polish.
00:44:16.070 --> 00:44:19.870
And the stereotype of
pierogies in Parma, that's me.
00:44:19.870 --> 00:44:22.080
I love pierogies.
00:44:22.080 --> 00:44:25.540
Parma is the largest suburb
in greater Cleveland.
00:44:25.540 --> 00:44:27.570
It's also the
seventh-largest city
00:44:27.570 --> 00:44:29.390
in the state of Ohio on its own.
00:44:29.390 --> 00:44:34.520
Has a population of
about 88,000 people.
00:44:34.520 --> 00:44:37.350
Parma sprawled out quickly,
without much thought
00:44:37.350 --> 00:44:38.910
for green space.
00:44:38.910 --> 00:44:41.740
But there was one tiny
undeveloped pocket,
00:44:41.740 --> 00:44:44.330
350 acres of woods.
00:44:44.330 --> 00:44:49.360
Through the woods flowed the
small stream called West Creek.
00:44:49.360 --> 00:44:51.870
West Creek is a tributary
to the Cuyahoga River.
00:44:51.870 --> 00:44:55.070
It's about a
14-square-mile watershed.
00:44:55.070 --> 00:44:56.820
All the water that
flows into West Creek
00:44:56.820 --> 00:44:58.820
eventually makes its way
into the Cuyahoga River
00:44:58.820 --> 00:45:02.440
and then on down to Lake Erie.
00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:05.520
The development is so dense
in so many areas around West
00:45:05.520 --> 00:45:10.580
Creek, it's just road after
road after road in a tight grid.
00:45:10.580 --> 00:45:13.310
350 acres were pretty
much landlocked.
00:45:13.310 --> 00:45:15.790
And there was a sign up front
that said no trespassing.
00:45:15.790 --> 00:45:19.630
And most people drove by it
and never knew it was here.
00:45:19.630 --> 00:45:21.710
But developers knew it was here.
00:45:21.710 --> 00:45:24.540
In the 1990s, they teamed
up with Parma's mayor
00:45:24.540 --> 00:45:26.910
to produce a development plan.
00:45:26.910 --> 00:45:29.398
But this did not make
everyone in Parma happy.
00:45:31.689 --> 00:45:33.230
The West Creek
Preservation Committee
00:45:33.230 --> 00:45:37.060
got started in about 1997.
00:45:37.060 --> 00:45:39.540
There were a number
of projects that
00:45:39.540 --> 00:45:41.450
were threatening to
remove the remaining
00:45:41.450 --> 00:45:43.897
open space around West Creek.
00:45:43.897 --> 00:45:45.605
There was going to be
a golf course here,
00:45:45.605 --> 00:45:50.260
and 400,000 square feet of
retail, and a housing complex,
00:45:50.260 --> 00:45:53.770
all of which would have
added a lot more pollution
00:45:53.770 --> 00:45:57.040
to West Creek.
00:45:57.040 --> 00:45:59.120
The committee started quietly.
00:45:59.120 --> 00:46:02.627
A small number of
volunteers held meetings.
00:46:02.627 --> 00:46:05.210
We started going door to door
to collect signatures in support
00:46:05.210 --> 00:46:06.430
of what we were doing.
00:46:06.430 --> 00:46:07.930
I'm not the type
to go door to door.
00:46:07.930 --> 00:46:11.530
I'm not the type to normally get
active politically or anything
00:46:11.530 --> 00:46:12.100
like that.
00:46:12.100 --> 00:46:14.720
And going door to door
collecting signatures
00:46:14.720 --> 00:46:16.160
was very difficult for me.
00:46:16.160 --> 00:46:19.040
My secret weapon was I had
a daughter that had just
00:46:19.040 --> 00:46:21.150
been born three months earlier.
00:46:21.150 --> 00:46:24.610
And I carried her in
a backpack with me.
00:46:24.610 --> 00:46:28.080
People will not close a door
on a small baby and somebody
00:46:28.080 --> 00:46:31.550
selling clean water.
00:46:31.550 --> 00:46:35.670
People had a concern
for not just West Creek,
00:46:35.670 --> 00:46:38.830
but the natural environment
that was left here in Parma.
00:46:38.830 --> 00:46:41.500
People would start giving
us their own stories.
00:46:41.500 --> 00:46:43.650
Yeah, I used to play
back there in the woods.
00:46:43.650 --> 00:46:45.070
And now they cut that down.
00:46:45.070 --> 00:46:48.910
And my kids used to go down the
street and play by the creek.
00:46:48.910 --> 00:46:51.120
And now they can't get
to the creek anymore.
00:46:51.120 --> 00:46:54.580
They would say, we just have
too much asphalt and too much
00:46:54.580 --> 00:46:56.890
pollution.
00:46:56.890 --> 00:47:00.670
People do desire to have some
open space near the areas
00:47:00.670 --> 00:47:01.340
they live in.
00:47:01.340 --> 00:47:03.500
And they'd just like to have
some green space available
00:47:03.500 --> 00:47:04.208
in the community.
00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:10.930
For two years, the volunteers
fought city hall and developers
00:47:10.930 --> 00:47:12.810
to stop the golf course.
00:47:12.810 --> 00:47:15.710
They lost one ballot initiative
but promptly came back
00:47:15.710 --> 00:47:16.740
with another.
00:47:16.740 --> 00:47:18.630
This time they won.
00:47:18.630 --> 00:47:21.290
The 350 acres were preserved.
00:47:21.290 --> 00:47:22.500
But now what?
00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:25.289
People had the idea, let's just
preserve it and leave it alone.
00:47:25.289 --> 00:47:26.830
We don't want to
open it up as a park
00:47:26.830 --> 00:47:31.880
because we don't want people
destroying what's there.
00:47:31.880 --> 00:47:34.579
But the reality is if we didn't
bring people down to use it,
00:47:34.579 --> 00:47:36.120
we wouldn't have
the popular support.
00:47:36.120 --> 00:47:38.470
We wouldn't have the
base of volunteers.
00:47:38.470 --> 00:47:40.910
So we put some trails
in, bring people
00:47:40.910 --> 00:47:44.520
down to see what we're
trying to preserve.
00:47:44.520 --> 00:47:47.580
Our volunteers range from
retired schoolteachers
00:47:47.580 --> 00:47:49.782
to engineers to
construction workers,
00:47:49.782 --> 00:47:51.490
average citizens who
have joined together
00:47:51.490 --> 00:47:52.658
to do really great things.
00:48:05.330 --> 00:48:06.897
This area is one
of the properties
00:48:06.897 --> 00:48:07.855
that we have protected.
00:48:12.520 --> 00:48:14.670
There's a shopping
center upstream.
00:48:14.670 --> 00:48:16.480
And over the years,
their carts have fallen
00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:18.770
in the creek, been washed down.
00:48:18.770 --> 00:48:22.540
It's really created a kind
of a dam of shopping carts.
00:48:22.540 --> 00:48:24.850
We've been removing carts.
00:48:24.850 --> 00:48:26.910
We've removed about 30
of them a month ago.
00:48:26.910 --> 00:48:30.130
We're removing several
dozen more today.
00:48:30.130 --> 00:48:34.170
And we'll keep at it until
the area is fully restored.
00:48:34.170 --> 00:48:36.960
But as you can see, there's
a lot of carts here.
00:48:36.960 --> 00:48:39.050
And getting them
out is quite a job.
00:48:44.040 --> 00:48:46.630
Over 10 years, the West
Creek Preservation Committee
00:48:46.630 --> 00:48:50.290
successfully campaigned for
stream protection laws in Parma
00:48:50.290 --> 00:48:53.100
and began to work with
groups in nearby towns.
00:48:53.100 --> 00:48:56.310
They have raised $13
million, both to restore
00:48:56.310 --> 00:48:58.460
the original land
along the creek
00:48:58.460 --> 00:49:00.410
and to add new property
to the reservation.
00:49:03.797 --> 00:49:05.630
We know that we can
never completely restore
00:49:05.630 --> 00:49:08.200
West Creek to the way it
was back in the 1800s.
00:49:08.200 --> 00:49:09.920
But we can make it a lot better.
00:49:09.920 --> 00:49:11.650
We can improve
the water quality.
00:49:11.650 --> 00:49:14.600
And we can make it so that
people want the stream to be
00:49:14.600 --> 00:49:15.630
a part of their lives.
00:49:15.630 --> 00:49:19.250
You now have in
northeast Ohio dozens
00:49:19.250 --> 00:49:21.780
of organizations
that are committed
00:49:21.780 --> 00:49:26.980
to bringing back the river,
taking back the river.
00:49:26.980 --> 00:49:31.345
Scratch your noses and get
your hair out of the way now.
00:49:31.345 --> 00:49:33.670
Then once you get
your hands dirty,
00:49:33.670 --> 00:49:38.464
you want to keep your
gloves off your face, OK?
00:49:38.464 --> 00:49:42.240
Because your gloves
will be dirty.
00:49:42.240 --> 00:49:46.240
This is not a top-down idea
that came from the region's
00:49:46.240 --> 00:49:47.510
political leadership.
00:49:47.510 --> 00:49:51.890
It really is a
grassroots movement.
00:49:51.890 --> 00:49:53.860
It's an incredibly
inspiring thing
00:49:53.860 --> 00:49:56.220
to see people driving
a political process
00:49:56.220 --> 00:49:58.420
and essentially telling
elected officials,
00:49:58.420 --> 00:50:02.360
you're going to be voted in
and out of office on this.
00:50:02.360 --> 00:50:04.540
Citizen groups
throughout the watershed
00:50:04.540 --> 00:50:07.930
are trying to clean up the
river and its tributaries.
00:50:07.930 --> 00:50:09.810
The West Creek
Preservation Committee
00:50:09.810 --> 00:50:12.680
is working to reclaim the
confluence, the point where
00:50:12.680 --> 00:50:16.766
West Creek empties into
the Cuyahoga River.
00:50:16.766 --> 00:50:21.090
Right now, that confluence
is about 10 acres of asphalt
00:50:21.090 --> 00:50:25.560
parking lot and a
100,000-square-foot warehouse.
00:50:25.560 --> 00:50:28.030
We are going to
purchase the site,
00:50:28.030 --> 00:50:31.280
restore the creek to
its original banks.
00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:32.830
We're going to
remove the building.
00:50:32.830 --> 00:50:35.270
We're going to remove
the parking lot.
00:50:35.270 --> 00:50:39.740
And create about 7 acres
of floodplain wetlands that
00:50:39.740 --> 00:50:43.800
will be the last filtration
point for water that
00:50:43.800 --> 00:50:47.530
leaves West Creek and
enters the Cuyahoga River.
00:50:47.530 --> 00:50:50.060
This is the same water that
is flowing to Lake Erie
00:50:50.060 --> 00:50:52.530
and going into,
ultimately, what we drink.
00:50:58.140 --> 00:51:03.290
Our bodies are made
mostly of water, over 70%.
00:51:03.290 --> 00:51:07.050
The molecule waters in me
today might be in you tomorrow.
00:51:07.050 --> 00:51:10.540
Maybe it's a scary thought.
00:51:10.540 --> 00:51:13.470
Sometimes I even tell my wife
that as much as I love you,
00:51:13.470 --> 00:51:16.500
I probably have a more intimate
relationship with Lake Erie,
00:51:16.500 --> 00:51:19.516
because Lake Erie's water
is in every cell of my body.
00:51:29.670 --> 00:51:32.160
In the remaining
part of my lifetime,
00:51:32.160 --> 00:51:37.530
I believe with a sincere
effort and without hangups, we
00:51:37.530 --> 00:51:40.450
can have this river
restored to the point where
00:51:40.450 --> 00:51:43.930
there'll be walleye running up
from Lake Erie to spawn in it.
00:51:43.930 --> 00:51:46.690
They'll be northern
pike living in here.
00:51:46.690 --> 00:51:49.905
People will be down here sport
fishing for largemouth bass.
00:51:55.200 --> 00:52:01.597
[SINGING] Well, there's a red
moon rising over the Cuyahoga
00:52:01.597 --> 00:52:07.977
River, roaring into
Cleveland through the lane.
00:52:10.923 --> 00:52:19.700
There's an oil barge winding
across the Cuyahoga River,
00:52:19.700 --> 00:52:25.700
rolling into Cleveland
through the lane.
00:52:25.700 --> 00:52:27.535
For Clevelanders,
there is always
00:52:27.535 --> 00:52:29.160
going to be that
sense that yeah, sure,
00:52:29.160 --> 00:52:31.034
but a few years later
it'll fall apart again.
00:52:31.034 --> 00:52:32.720
We've seen it before.
00:52:32.720 --> 00:52:34.765
But no matter what
happens, the river
00:52:34.765 --> 00:52:37.530
itself is a sort of
metaphorical heart of Cleveland.
00:52:37.530 --> 00:52:39.430
Having it clean,
having it be healthy,
00:52:39.430 --> 00:52:43.329
having it be in no threat of
being a dead or dying river
00:52:43.329 --> 00:52:45.870
is always going to be something
on which this city can build.
00:52:49.654 --> 00:52:52.965
[SINGING] 'Cause
the Cuyahoga River
00:52:52.965 --> 00:52:56.266
goes moping through my dreams.
00:52:59.550 --> 00:53:01.560
The return of the
Cuyahoga River, to me,
00:53:01.560 --> 00:53:04.130
is one of the most
positive responses
00:53:04.130 --> 00:53:07.060
to the environmental concerns
that were expressed right
00:53:07.060 --> 00:53:08.670
before it burned.
00:53:08.670 --> 00:53:12.540
There was a real concern that
we were going to lose our cities
00:53:12.540 --> 00:53:15.090
and lose our habitats.
00:53:15.090 --> 00:53:19.600
[SINGING] You know the
Lord can make you tumble.
00:53:19.600 --> 00:53:22.420
And the Lord can make you turn.
00:53:22.420 --> 00:53:25.760
To turn that around,
to make mistakes
00:53:25.760 --> 00:53:29.600
but then to be able to come
back and have vitality,
00:53:29.600 --> 00:53:34.620
it means there is an ability
to come back from our mistakes.
00:53:34.620 --> 00:53:37.625
And there is hope
for our communities.
00:53:43.210 --> 00:53:47.730
[SINGING] Cleveland,
even now, I can remember.
00:53:47.730 --> 00:53:50.600
The Cuyahoga has made
a remarkable comeback.
00:53:50.600 --> 00:53:54.030
And along the way, it has
taught us an enduring lesson.
00:53:54.030 --> 00:53:57.370
We cannot change the world
in piecemeal fashion.
00:53:57.370 --> 00:54:00.570
The citizens of Cleveland,
Akron, and Parma
00:54:00.570 --> 00:54:03.850
have to work together, just
as the nations of the world
00:54:03.850 --> 00:54:06.700
must unite to reduce the
harm that human beings do
00:54:06.700 --> 00:54:08.750
to their planet.
00:54:08.750 --> 00:54:12.250
We are the only species that
can savage the environment.
00:54:12.250 --> 00:54:17.410
But we're the only one
who can save it as well.
00:54:17.410 --> 00:54:19.560
The Cuyahoga was
the poster child
00:54:19.560 --> 00:54:22.850
for the environmental
movement for good reason.
00:54:22.850 --> 00:54:26.450
It was a drastic and
classic case of pollution.
00:54:26.450 --> 00:54:30.340
And the damage sparked a
dramatic effort at repair.
00:54:30.340 --> 00:54:33.120
The Cuyahoga is
no longer on fire.
00:54:33.120 --> 00:54:37.020
But it can still light the way.
00:54:37.020 --> 00:54:43.593
[SINGING] Burn on,
big river, burn on.
00:54:43.593 --> 00:54:49.456
Burn on, big river, burn on.
00:54:49.456 --> 00:54:56.795
Well, the Lord can make you
tumble, Lord can make you turn.
00:54:56.795 --> 00:54:59.275
The Lord can make you overflow.
00:55:02.260 --> 00:55:06.478
He just can't make you burn.
00:55:06.478 --> 00:55:12.394
Burn on, big river, burn on.
00:55:12.394 --> 00:55:13.880
Burn on, big river--
00:55:13.880 --> 00:55:17.480
The Return of the Cuyahoga
is available on DVD
00:55:17.480 --> 00:55:20.960
for $24.95 plus
shipping and handling.
00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:28.000
To order, please
call 1-800-937-5387.
00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:31.200
For more information about
The Return of the Cuyahoga,
00:55:31.200 --> 00:55:33.445
visit us on the web at pbs.org.
00:55:46.680 --> 00:55:48.770
The Return of the
Cuyahoga is made
00:55:48.770 --> 00:55:51.760
possible by a grant
from Peter B. Lewis
00:55:51.760 --> 00:55:55.470
and by the Cleveland
Foundation, supporting
00:55:55.470 --> 00:55:59.480
good causes and big ideas that
enhance the lives of people
00:55:59.480 --> 00:56:01.350
in greater Cleveland.
00:56:01.350 --> 00:56:03.640
The law firm of
McDonald Hopkins,
00:56:03.640 --> 00:56:06.720
attorneys to grow with,
proud to make our clients
00:56:06.720 --> 00:56:09.190
and communities better.
00:56:09.190 --> 00:56:14.180
The Lubrizol Foundation,
the Abington Foundation,
00:56:14.180 --> 00:56:19.520
the GAR Foundation, the
George Gund Foundation,
00:56:19.520 --> 00:56:22.680
the Northeast Ohio
Regional Sewer District.
00:56:22.680 --> 00:56:36.101
With additional funding from--
00:56:38.610 --> 00:56:40.860
We are PBS.
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 57 minutes
Date: 2008
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 9-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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