The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) was prompted in part by the public outrage over the Ohio’s Cuyahoga River erupting into flames on 13 separate occasions from 1869-1969. A March 1970 Time Magazine article described the river as “chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gasses…[and] a constant fire hazard.’
These fires caught the attention of the American public, but this river was not unique in its pollution. Lax water pollution regulations and industrial pollution were rampant.
This was a divisive issue. There is always discussion around how tighter pollution regulations will impact industry. The bill was passed, then vetoed by then-POTUS Richard Nixon, which was then overridden by both houses of Congress.
According to the EPA, “today more than 70% of our estuaries have healthy biological communities, while fewer than half of our rivers and streams, lakes, wetlands, and Great Lakes coasts do.” “28% of rivers and stream miles were reported to be in good biological condition. However, almost half were in poor condition – excess nitrogen levels were found in 44%, and phosphorus in 42%.” So we still have a lot of work to do.
According to an article in Environment.co the 7 most polluted water bodies in the US in 2022 are:
1. The Mississippi River
2. The Ohio River
3. The Pacific Ocean
4. The Atlantic Ocean
5. New River or Rio Nuevo (US/Mexico border in California)
6. The Savannah River
7. Onondaga Lake in the City of Syracuse (designated as a superfund site in 1994)
https://appvoices.org/2012/02/21/yesterday-and-today-defending-the-clean-water-act/
https://environment.co/the-7-most-polluted-bodies-of-water-in-the-us
