MUSIC: UP & UNDER
A local jam band provided the musical backdrop to the festivities. Randy Newman's ironic anthem "Burn On" wasn't on the set list for the noontime gathering. Instead, a parade of politicians and community leaders sang praises to a renewed river. Chris Korleski who heads the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said 40 years of environmental diligence has paid off for the Cuyahoga.
CHRIS KORLESKI: From a recreational standpoint, from an economic development standpoint, having this stretch of water cleaned up is a significant win.
That's why the Ohio EPA has been lobbying federal officials to remove parts of the Cuyahoga from a list of environmental danger zones on the Great Lakes. State and local officials had hoped that such an announcement would come at the 40th anniversary festivities, but that didn't happen. Tinka Hyde of the US EPA said the so-called "delisting" process looks at the progress of a river as a whole.
TINKA HYDE: And so, taking pieces of it and saying it's done and leaving the other pieces there sends a mixed message. And while I understand folks are disappointed, it in no way is intended to diminish the great work they've done in making progress.
Combined sewer overflow problems in cities like Akron have kept the Cuyahoga on the EPA's watch list. U. S. Senator George Voinovich and several others in attendance expressed the hope that enough federal stimulus dollars would be available to address such infrastructure issues. Regional Sewer District Director Julius Ciaccia says, so far, two billion dollars has been designated for sewer repair and construction.
