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Tracking the Comeback of the Cuyahoga

Harvey Webster likes to watch wildlife near the mouth of the Cuyahoga river
Harvey Webster likes to watch wildlife near the mouth of the Cuyahoga river

SOUND: Bird calls and water lapping at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river

Wildlife expert Harvey Webster of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History lowers his binoculars and marvels at the number of gulls soaring across the skies over Whiskey Island, where the Cuyahoga River empties into Lake Erie.

HARVEY WEBSTER: Our gull populations have grown dramatically in the last 30 years. A big part of it is the restoration of health to the river, because they gotta eat something. They can't get all of their food by cleaning up McDonald's wrappers outside of fast food joints. There's a huge amount of aquatic life --- lots of fish --- gather at the mouth of the river, and that's what these birds are taking advantage of.

Webster calls the river a "biological powerhouse". That's a far cry from that famous day in June of 1969, when the Cuyahoga became a national poster child for pollution thanks to an oily chunk of floating debris that caught fire.

HARVEY WEBSTER: I was just out of high school, and my memory of it was how little reaction there was in Cleveland to the fire, because it had happened before. It wasn't necessarily anything novel. And how little attention to it seemed to be paid in the day or two afterwards in the local media. It was almost like we were dulled to it.

But, the compelling image of open water, set afire helped spur a national discussion about ecological issues that would lead to the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency a year later, and passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. The comeback of the Cuyahoga is also evident up river, where it meanders through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. That's where biologist Meg Plona monitors water quality.

MEG PLONA: We've seen a tremendous improvement in the number of fish species that have recovered over the past 40 years. We see over 60 species of fish, now. A return of wildlife: we have eagles nesting in the Park now that we didn't have for 70 years.

For years, clean-up efforts were centered on industries that discharged waste directly into the river though open pipes. More recently, the focus is on the dirty water that runs off of streets and parking lots into overburdened sewers --- especially during heavy rains. As a remedy, some communities along the Cuyahoga, and other regional rivers, have started to curb development along waterways, in an effort to leave some open space --- a wetland area --- to absorb and filter this run off. In Summit County, for example, new buildings have to be set back from 30 to 300 feet from the river, depending on the location. National Parks ecologist Kevin Skerl says, it’s a small start to tackling a big problem that --- until recent years --- was harder to see.

KEVIN SKERL: I think some of that comes from the economic realities that we saw in response to major flood events in 2003, 2004, and 2006. Folks are seeing that storm water management is a costly endeavor, and it's a lot easier to keep the wetlands and the streams functional and to protect them than it is to replace them with some built infrastructure that needs maintenance and repair and maybe doesn't function as well.

While there's been much improvement, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency still hasn't totally cleared the Cuyahoga river for swimming, and there's a restriction on how many fish caught in the river it's safe to eat. Meanwhile, some area entrepreneurs have discovered that the river's smoky past offers a marketing opportunity.

LEIGH SCHNEIDER: This is our new gift shop.

Leigh Schneider of the Great Lakes Brewing Company, shows off some of their "Burning River" merchandise.

LEIGH SCHNEIDER: We've got pint glasses…and we've got T-shirts…and we have paper and wooden posters. And of course, the beer.

Burning River Pale Ale has long been one of the company's popular brews. Great Lakes also sponsors an annual Burning River Fest, which promotes environmental stewardship. Wildlife expert Harvey Webster chuckles over the ways Cleveland is now embracing an event that was a source of shame, 40 years ago.

HARVEY WEBSTER: We've recognized that it was --- if you will --- a "watershed event" in the persona of the town. And I think it's good-natured that we can poke fun at ourselves, now that we've come so far from that time.

David C. Barnett was a senior arts & culture reporter for Ideastream Public Media. He retired in October 2022.