Cspan3, American History tv. Narrator there are not many scenes such as this anymore. You really have to look for them. And in the looking, you will discover that our environment is not the endless spring our forefathers thought it was. Five years ago, montage sought out this kind of scene. We went to the closest major waterway we knew in the area of cleveland, and what we found was that every day, because of what we do, the Crooked River dies. The Cuyahoga River, as most think of it, the brown stream that meets lake erie, an industrial waterway, its banks populated by steel mills and factories, its channel filled with ships and barges. Narrator the Cuyahoga River, as it reaches lake erie, after a 100mile twisting and turning journey from its headwaters, is an exhausted stream, abused and misused by man and his machines. Without the cuyahoga, the sprawling megalopolis of cleveland, akron, would not exist. The river was the reason for originally settling this portion of the western reserve in 1780s. The river called crooked by the delaware indians provided a waterway to the interior of ohio , and so man came and continued coming. Until today, nearly two Million People live and work in the river basin. In creating this urban complex, man has used the river as men have always used rivers. The flow has been put to work as a navigable stream, a water supply and as a sewer. Mans mark is everywhere. Is this mark an epitaph for the cuyahoga . There have been changes since 1966. There is the possibility of resurrection. The Cuyahoga River begins above chardon in Geauga County as two separate branches rising from springs and marshes. True to its name, it founds a crooked path south to akron, then north to cleveland and lake erie, 100 miles of waterway. This epilogue, this essay on the cuyahoga, begins a few miles from the rivers source, near burton, ohio, where conservationists gather each spring for a canoe trip down the river. It is as much an inspection trip as it is recreation. This year, some 450 people followed bill gressard on the trip. It was gressard, outdoor editor of the record courier, who complaints about the polluted cuyahoga, and his canoe trip, helped draw attention to the problem. But the trip is fun, too. And whole families take to the water coming from miles around. Enthusiasts like 70yearold ms. Bessie simpson from lakewood who made the 25mile trip alone. Narrator the Buffalo District is responsible for keeping the navigable streams open in this part of the country. It has been in the forefront of pollution control. Trash. E is a lot of too close to the rivers edge, their septic tanks overflow. Out to substance oozing the banks right below the tank line. Narrator the ohio rabbits stopped by a small waterfall. Went on. He rain, proving that one he could float his metal kayak over the falls. And two that he could catch bass from the ones polluted waters of the upper ohio river. The successive bass trips have brought attention to the desperate situation. It is evident that the citizens have cleaned up their part of the river. Even cleaning the riverbed itself. There is transformed a field to a town park and picnic area. Good. Neral consensus was it is in better condition than it has been in years. The 25 mile trek ended. Further south, the second Water Reservoir for the city of akron. And when the weather is good, you can find fishermen on the roadside, where highway 15 crosses the lake. It is one of the few remaining spots where fish inhabit the cuyahoga. From this point on, the river to show the ravages of man that will ultimately destroy it at the time it reaches lake erie. Much of the destruction comes from places like this. The Wastewater Treatment plant, just southeast of lake rockwell. In short, the plant is simply large enough to treat the waist of the area it serves. The situation is so bad that the ohio state Water Pollution board has had a ban on new construction until a new plan until a new plant can be built and put into operation. The plant superintendent says simply that he doesnt have facilities to do what he is supposed to do. There are plans for a new plant, and the federal government may help, but it will cost some 2 million to build it. And it will take taxes to pay for it. As a result, largely untreated sewage runs from the plant to a ditch nearby, and into a series thereeks which flow into cuyahoga. Becomesme the cuyahoga a sewer. At twin lakes a new Sewage Treatment plant is under construction. It is a tertiary treatment plant, meaning it releases highly treated water back into the environment. It is the best Sewage Treatment system, unlike many, and this plant will be adequate for future development. But as it flows silently by the historic Standing Rock the , cuyahoga begins to smell, and withiverbed is covered slime. The ancient tribal meeting grounds have succumbed to modern man. Just below the spillway of lake rockwell, the cuyahoga begins to show its age. The city of akron is expanding its main water intake to handle the millions of gallons of water required by akron. But the water is so impure, that at one time tons of sludge taken from it were dumped directly into the river, largely for the efforts, two large settling ponds were built to hold the sludge. Now even they are almost full, and that part of the plan will most likely have to be expanded in the future. By legislative act, the city owns the rights to the rivers water and cities upstream must use municipal or private wells. But akron is now considering a fourth Water Reservoir, meeting meaning a new dam across the cuyahoga. With the new reservoir, the city can begin selling water to countless towns in the area. But even now the city of akron uses so much water from the river that in times of low flow, it almost stops running. Another dam would kill the. The river runs somewhat clear, pure by any means. It is clean enough to support fish, and several have been taken from this spot, right in the heart of town. music show. There is even talk of making the river into a park, available to all. We are told the plans have been completed. It was a different story five years ago. On the outskirts of kent, where the river heads for cuyahoga falls, is a new Wastewater Treatment plant, which was under construction five years ago. It can provide secondary treatment of some 4 million gallons of waste each day, and it is now meeting the state requirements for discharges into the cuyahoga. In 1960, kent faced the situation in which laveta finds itself today, but even the new plant is finding it difficult to do their job properly because of the kinds of waste it must treat, everything from slaughterhouse remains to industrial sludge and oil are flushed into the sewers of kent. As it is with innumerable other cities along the river. Of course, the influence from the Metal Industry linked into the cuyahoga, and the orange color dissolved iron and rust leaves an indelible mark on the river. Just abouthoga has every problem that any river in the United States has. Its from the upper end to this end, polluted sediment in the bottom, it is full of debris, it has a tremendously heavy load of municipal and industrial waste. Narrator here as in countless other places, the dams provide water for specialized use. Here, they supply a paper manufacturing company. Such uses of river water continue until it reaches lake erie. It slowly meandered through the city of cuyahoga falls, in some idealappearing as an ideal stream. Idyllic in others, an industrial sewer. Waste, mostly industrial, trickled into the river. But it appears to be in better condition than it was five years ago. Many polluters are still actively contributing to the death of the cuyahoga. From cuyahoga falls, the river winds through the city of akron. On the three dams upstream, the city gets some 70 million gallons of water per day, with a tiny stream at the boxing plant several miles below. During low flow, the discharge rivers up 85 of the water. Under normal conditions, as much as half. From here, the cuyahoga attempts to act like a river, coursing down rapids and waterfalls, descending several hundred feet for another mile and a half. Narrator by the time the Cuyahoga River reaches it, it is already dead. There is little life of any kind in this water. In all, 44 Sewage Treatment dumps waste into the eck. R on its tr the treatment plan adds another 75 million gallons to the river alone. Now it is the river, known throughout the world as the only one that burns. We talk about cleaning up lake erie, but it is not out in the lake, it is specific areas. You have to clean out specific areas. You have to clean up the tributaries. Narrator industries which use river water find they have to clean it first, then many dirty it more before dumping it back. There are proposals for cleaning up the river. While it will never again be a trout stream, it can be made not to smell. The cost for the cleanup may be staggering. First, we have to as a civilization learn to toilet train ourselves for industrial waste. If we do get them cleaned up, we mess thatean up the we made. With the Cleanup Program like this, it could just work about anywhere. It is big enough that we can do a big job, and small enough that tackle in a we can few months to a year or two. Narrator the cuyahoga has been reborn. By the time it ends, it has been long dead. If there is an epilogue to the story of how the Crooked River dies, it is simply that men has multiplied too fast, and his slovenly habits have made it difficult to live. If he does not stop polluting, eventually, like the cuyahoga, he will find there is nothing clean left, and his fate may indeed resemble that of the Crooked River. American history tv is on social media. Cspanhistory. The house will be in order. Cspan hasears been providing unfiltered access to Public Policy events from washington, d. C. And around the country so you can make up your own mind. Created by cable in 19 79, cspan is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. On its 15th anniversary in 1985, the Environmental Protection agency created a 20 minute film documenting the rationale or its creation by the Nixon Administration in 1970, and highlighting its most significant achievement. Significant achievements. [america the beautiful]