In 1782, Thomas Jefferson stated: “The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth. Its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted.” According to many sources today, the Ohio River is the most polluted river in the United States, and is among the 25 most polluted rivers in the world.
The Ohio River starts in western Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers and flows southwest to the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. The river touches 6 states and its 189,422 square mile drainage area includes parts of 14 states. It is the source of drinking water for 5 Million people. The area is rich in biodiversity, with the Ohio River Islands National Refuge having 22 upland islands and protected underwater habitats. Additionally, the river is used for recreation and for fisheries, with more than 150 different species of fish.
The Falls of the Ohio, located just below Louisville, were an obstruction to transportation on the Ohio River. In 1830, the rapids were bypassed to allow large commercial vessels and all other river traffic to navigate from Pittsburge to the Port of New Orleans. The Ohio River is no longer a free flowing river, but is divided up into 21 discrete pools by 20 locks and dams that were put into place for navigation and power generation.
Transportation along and near the river is a source of pollution. From train derailments like the one in East Palestine, to barges spilling coal in Louisville, and other transportation accidents, these pollutants are dumped either directly into the river or into streams that flow into the river.
The Ohio River is extensively industrialized. During the rise of American industries, steel plants were built along the Ohio River, with discharges and runoff from these sites going into the river. These discharges included phosphorus, nitrate compounds, PCBs, and mercury, which are difficult to remove. Elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrogen (nutrient pollution or eutrophication) feed toxic algae blooms. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that impairs fetal brain development and harms children. Many of those plants still exist today. Mercury discharges into the river have been increasing since 2007.
The DuPont chemical facility in Parkersburg, WV released hundreds of thousands of pounds of PFOA (a PFAS or forever chemical), a fluoride-based chemical used in the production of teflon starting in the 1950s and continuing for over 7 decades.
There are also fossil fuel wells in the Ohio River Valley. When fracking was a new technology, this industrial waste was sent to municipal wastewater treatment plants for processing. That is no longer allowed, but waste from fracking, liquified natural gas, and other petrochemical processes is discharged into the Ohio River.
Of course, stormwater runoff from cities, farms, and industrial sites also contribute to the pollution in the Ohio River. Most municipal waste is no longer discharged as raw sewage into the river, but there are still some combined sanitary and stormwater sewers that discharge raw sewage in high flow situations. After heavy rainfall, approximately 630 miles (two thirds) of the river isnโt safe for recreational use because of sewage and other pollutants in the stormwater runoff.
In 1948, ORSANCO (Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission) was created, with commissioners appointed by the governors of the 6 states the river touches, plus New York and Virginia. At that time, ORSANCO set pollution standards for contaminants and later added limits for pollutants. In 2018, there was a proposal to dissolve those requirements. Due to public outcry, ORSANCO did not dissolve them, but did change them making them voluntary in 2019. ORSANCO says it will now focus its efforts on research and monitoring only. Testing shows that the water quality is getting worse, not better.
According to the 2020 EPA Toxic Release Inventory, more than 40 million pounds of toxic substances were released from industries into the Ohio River, the highest of any major US waterway. When analyzed for toxicity instead of weight, the Ohio River along with the Great Lakes and the Texas-Gulf had the largest releases. There are currently 40,000 active discharge permits (NPDES) in the watershed.
In the century from the 1860s to the 1960s, several rivers in Ohio, including the Ohio River, were so heavily polluted that they started the movement that ultimately led to the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Since that time, pollution has been reduced, but the work is far from done. The Ohio River has been the most polluted river in the United States since 2001 and in 2023 was named the second most endangered river in the nation in a report by US conservation group American Rivers. The organization is asking Congress to designate the Ohio River as a federally protected water system.
Sources:
https://environment.co/the-7-most-polluted-bodies-of-water-in-the-us
https://ecocation.org/15-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-us
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River
https://elpc.org/projects/cleaning-up-ohio-river
https://www.greenmatters.com/big-impact/most-polluted-river-in-usa
