Cuyahoga River

However, the incident did soon garner the attention of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, which used a dramatic photo of the even larger 1952 blaze in an article on the pollution of America's waterways. The article described the Cuyahoga as the river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays"{{cite magazine | title = The Cities: The Price of Optimism | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901182,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070817171805/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901182,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 17, 2007 | date=August 1, 1969 | access-date=April 30, 2010}} and listed other badly-polluted rivers across the nation. (No pictures of the 1969 fire are known to exist, as local media did not arrive on the scene until after the fire was under control.) The article launched ''Time'''s new "Environment" section, and gained wide readership not only on its own merit, but because the same issue featured coverage of astronauts [[Neil Armstrong]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]] landing on the Moon the previous week in the [[Apollo 11]] mission, and had Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] on the cover for a story on the [[Chappaquiddick incident]] in which Kennedy's automobile passenger, [[Mary Jo Kopechne]], had drowned.

However, the incident did soon garner the attention of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, which used a dramatic photo of the even larger 1952 blaze in an article on the pollution of America's waterways. The article described the Cuyahoga as the river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays"{{cite magazine | title = The Cities: The Price of Optimism | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901182,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070817171805/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901182,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 17, 2007 | date=August 1, 1969 | access-date=April 30, 2010}} and listed other badly-polluted rivers across the nation. (No pictures of the 1969 fire are known to exist, as local media did not arrive on the scene until after the fire was under control.) The article launched ''Time'''s new "Environment" section, and gained wide readership not only on its own merit, but because the same issue featured coverage of astronauts [[Neil Armstrong]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]] landing on the Moon the previous week in the [[Apollo 11]] mission, and had Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] on the cover for a story on the [[Chappaquiddick incident]] in which Kennedy's automobile passenger, [[Mary Jo Kopechne]], had drowned.

In 1969 the Cuyahoga River fire, along with the [[1969 Santa Barbara oil spill|Santa Barbara oil spill]] earlier that year, helped spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities, resulting in amendments extending the [[Clean Water Act]], [[Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement]], and the creation of the federal [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) and the [[Ohio Environmental Protection Agency]] (OEPA).{{Cite journal |last1=Keiser |first1=David A. |last2=Shapiro |first2=Joseph S. |date=2019 |title=US Water Pollution Regulation over the Past Half Century: Burning Waters to Crystal Springs? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26796836 |journal=The Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=33 |issue=4 |page=54 |jstor=26796836}} The Act followed some strict goals: eliminating discharge of all pollutants into navigable waters by 1985, making all water safe for fishing and swimming by 1983, and prohibiting all discharge of toxic amounts of toxic pollutants. The Clean Water Act avoided all agricultural pollution, one of the worst surface water quality problems at the time.Mayor Stokes gave Congressional testimony on his and other major big cities' struggles with polluting industries to restore the environmental health of their communities. As a result, large [[point source pollution|point sources of pollution]] on the Cuyahoga have received significant attention from the OEPA in subsequent decades. These events are referred to in [[Randy Newman]]'s 1972 song Burn On from the album "[[Sail Away (Randy Newman album|Sail Away)|Burn On]]", [[R.E.M.]]'s 1986 song "[[Cuyahoga (song)|Cuyahoga]]", and [[Adam Again]]'s 1992 song "River on Fire". [[Great Lakes Brewing Company]] of Cleveland named its ''Burning River Pale Ale'' after the event. The Cuyahoga River fire also negatively impacted the greater American public view on highly industrialized areas; not only were personal connections to these places decreased in the past decades, but industrialized areas were now seen in connected to incidents like the Cuyahoga River fire.

In 1969 the Cuyahoga River fire, along with the [[1969 Santa Barbara oil spill|Santa Barbara oil spill]] earlier that year, helped spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities, resulting in amendments extending the [[Clean Water Act]], [[Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement]], and the creation of the federal [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) and the [[Ohio Environmental Protection Agency]] (OEPA).{{Cite journal |last1=Keiser |first1=David A. |last2=Shapiro |first2=Joseph S. |date=2019 |title=US Water Pollution Regulation over the Past Half Century: Burning Waters to Crystal Springs? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26796836 |journal=The Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=33 |issue=4 |page=54 |jstor=26796836}} The Act followed some strict goals: eliminating discharge of all pollutants into navigable waters by 1985, making all water safe for fishing and swimming by 1983, and prohibiting all discharge of toxic amounts of toxic pollutants. The Clean Water Act avoided all agricultural pollution, one of the worst surface water quality problems at the time.Mayor Stokes gave Congressional testimony on his and other major big cities' struggles with polluting industries to restore the environmental health of their communities. As a result, large [[point source pollution|point sources of pollution]] on the Cuyahoga have received significant attention from the OEPA in subsequent decades. These events are referred to in [[Randy Newman]]'s 1972 song Burn On from the album "[[Sail Away (Randy Newman album|Sail Away]]", [[R.E.M.]]'s 1986 song "[[Cuyahoga (song)|Cuyahoga]]", and [[Adam Again]]'s 1992 song "River on Fire". [[Great Lakes Brewing Company]] of Cleveland named its ''Burning River Pale Ale'' after the event. The Cuyahoga River fire also negatively impacted the greater American public view on highly industrialized areas; not only were personal connections to these places decreased in the past decades, but industrialized areas were now seen in connected to incidents like the Cuyahoga River fire.

In December 1970 a federal grand jury investigation led by U.S. Attorney [[Robert Jones (Ohio lawyer)|Robert Jones]] began, of water pollution allegedly being caused by about 12 companies in northeastern Ohio; it was the first grand jury investigation of water pollution in the area.{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-51-%E2%80%9CUS-Opens-Probe-Here-on-Pollution%E2%80%9D-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-1970|title=REF 51 'U.S. Opens Probe Here on Pollution' The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}} The Attorney General of the United States, John N. Mitchell, gave a Press Conference December 18, 1970 referencing new pollution control litigation, with particular reference to work with the new Environmental Protection Agency, and announcing the filing of a lawsuit that morning against the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation for discharging substantial quantities of cyanide into the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ag/legacy/2011/08/23/12-18-1970.pdf|title=Press Conference John Mitchell 12-18-1970}} U.S. Attorney Jones filed the misdemeanor charges in District Court, alleging violations of the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act.{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-53-%E2%80%9CCharges-JL-With-Pollution%E2%80%9D-AP-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-31st-1970|title=REF 53 'Charges J&L With Pollution' (AP) The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December 31st, 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}} There were multiple other suits filed by U.S. Attorney Jones.{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-52-US-Jury-Indicts-CEI-on-Ash-Dumping-in-Lake%E2%80%9D-by-Brian-Williams-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-1970|title=REF 52 'U.S. Jury Indicts CEI on Ash Dumping in Lake' by Brian Williams, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-54-%E2%80%9CPollution-Suits-Hit-US-Steel%E2%80%9D-by-Brian-Williams-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-1970|title=REF 54 "Pollution Suits Hit U.S. Steel" by Brian Williams, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December, 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-56-%E2%80%9CUS-Sues-Metals-Firm-as-Polluter%E2%80%9D-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-October-14-1971|title=REF 56 "U.S. Sues Metals Firm as Polluter" The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, October 14, 1971.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}

In December 1970 a federal grand jury investigation led by U.S. Attorney [[Robert Jones (Ohio lawyer)|Robert Jones]] began, of water pollution allegedly being caused by about 12 companies in northeastern Ohio; it was the first grand jury investigation of water pollution in the area.{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-51-%E2%80%9CUS-Opens-Probe-Here-on-Pollution%E2%80%9D-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-1970|title=REF 51 'U.S. Opens Probe Here on Pollution' The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}} The Attorney General of the United States, John N. Mitchell, gave a Press Conference December 18, 1970 referencing new pollution control litigation, with particular reference to work with the new Environmental Protection Agency, and announcing the filing of a lawsuit that morning against the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation for discharging substantial quantities of cyanide into the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ag/legacy/2011/08/23/12-18-1970.pdf|title=Press Conference John Mitchell 12-18-1970}} U.S. Attorney Jones filed the misdemeanor charges in District Court, alleging violations of the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act.{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-53-%E2%80%9CCharges-JL-With-Pollution%E2%80%9D-AP-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-31st-1970|title=REF 53 'Charges J&L With Pollution' (AP) The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December 31st, 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}} There were multiple other suits filed by U.S. Attorney Jones.{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-52-US-Jury-Indicts-CEI-on-Ash-Dumping-in-Lake%E2%80%9D-by-Brian-Williams-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-1970|title=REF 52 'U.S. Jury Indicts CEI on Ash Dumping in Lake' by Brian Williams, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-54-%E2%80%9CPollution-Suits-Hit-US-Steel%E2%80%9D-by-Brian-Williams-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-December-1970|title=REF 54 "Pollution Suits Hit U.S. Steel" by Brian Williams, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, December, 1970.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}{{Cite web|url=https://rojoneswi.wixsite.com/robertjonesjdlibrary/single-post/2018/06/24/REF-56-%E2%80%9CUS-Sues-Metals-Firm-as-Polluter%E2%80%9D-The-Plain-Dealer-Cleveland-Ohio-October-14-1971|title=REF 56 "U.S. Sues Metals Firm as Polluter" The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, October 14, 1971.|website=Home {{!}} Robert Walter Jones J.D. Library and Archive|date=June 24, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}