The Clean Water Act Through the Generations: Baby Boomers Generation
Elizabeth Soderstrom, Ph.D., Senior Director of Development
October 4, 2012 | Water Pollution
How has the Clean Water Act impacted your life? For those of us who were born before the Clean Water Act was passed into law in 1972, we interpret this law through the eyes of the Baby Boomers Generation.
Charles River, MA | BostonPhotoSphere
The River Charles, as we called it, is a long, lazy river that flows through 22 towns in Massachusetts before it reaches Boston Harbor. As sewage, industrial wastewater and urban runoff flowed freely into the river from the surrounding cities, the Charles River became well known for its high level of pollutants, so that by 1955, Bernard DeVoto wrote in Harper's Magazine that the Charles was "foul and noisome, polluted by offal and industrious wastes, scummy with oil, unlikely to be mistaken for water." In those days, it was not an uncommon sight to see toxins coloring the river pink and orange in spots, fish kills and submerged cars.
By 1976, the River Charles was somewhat improved as it flowed by my high school in Dedham right below the sports fields. However, if one of the crew team members fell by accident into the water, they were still rushed off to the hospital to get a tetanus shot. The next day, the rest of the student body whispered about the poor swimmer and kept their distance.
In 1995, under direction of the Clean Water Act, the United States Environmental Protection Agency declared a goal of making the river swimmable by 2005. In 1996, Governor William Weld plunged, fully clothed, into the river to prove his commitment to cleaning up the river, and in July 2007, the river hosted the Charles River Masters Swim Race, the first sanctioned race in the Charles in over five decades – none of the swimmers needed a tetanus shot! With the improved water quality, swimming and fishing are progressively re-emerging as about 90% of the length of the river is now considered safe for swimming.
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Submitted by Elizabeth Soderstrom at: October 11, 2012
Thanks everyone for the comments on CWA and your stories about the Charles and other rivers in your life. Great information and moving stories. Elizabeth Soderstrom
Submitted by C.A. at: October 10, 2012
I grew up near Detroit before the CWA, and I remember fearing as a child that if I ever stepped in the Detroit River, my foot might dissolve. It was a revelation to visit friends in upstate New York and find out what it was like to be able to put on a bathing suit and play and swim in a fast clean creek that carried us children over slippery rocks and dumped us in clear pools of water. It was pure joy. Now I live in Iowa, which has terrible water quality problems largely caused by agriculture. But recently the CWA enabled Iowans to win a lawsuit that will help us fight manure spills. The CWA gives us a tool, a weapon, and hope. I would like to see the CWA strengthened, especially in regard to nonpoint pollution. But I am very grateful to the current version and to the people who fought to make it a reality. And someday, I hope the CWA will help enable Iowa children to swim in clean rivers and lakes.
Submitted by Mike Jolicoeur at: October 10, 2012
It is with great pride & appreciation that we celebrate this historic piece of legislation. Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island was instrumental in crafting this Act & every chance I get to sail or kayak Narragansett Bay I give thanks for the opportunity.
Submitted by Shirley Farano at: October 10, 2012
Every river must have many similar stories. This one is from the 1960's. We all loved swimming in the Fox River, McHenry, IL. It was before air conditioning was prominent there and it was the only relief from hot summer days. The river was also our source of summer fun - swimming, boating, skiing. Swallowing a mouth full of water by accident was common. By 1970 we learned that parents of friends who were only in their 40's - 50's were diagnosed with cancer. My grandmother in her 60's found she had cancer. My best friend who did scuba diving died of cancer in her 40's died from a rare form of cancer, leaving behind two children. In fact the incidence of cancer in our old neighborhood was very high and outside the range of anything you could consider a normal degree. This was true for families with no prior history of cancer. I learned that the farmer who originally owned that land allowed dumping by sewage trucks into the wetlands. Also manufacturers upriver dumped into the waters. No one was more happy than me to hear the Clean Water Act passed. The impact to this community was tremendous.
Submitted by tequilashot at: October 10, 2012
The Clean Water Act is not being upheld due to industrial agriculture... The 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin IL. issued its ruling on Dec. 22, 2010, regarding the Traditions Dairy project in Jo Daviess County, concurring with the previous Jo Daviess County Circuit Court ruling in favor of dairyman A.J. Bos. The judges did, however, uphold the right for citizens to protect themselves and their communities by putting to rest the empty threats of H.O.M.E.S. being sued for damages by Traditions Investments LLC. H.O.M.E.S. (Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards) is a 501 (c)(3) and will continue its public education, outreach and water quality test efforts; especially important in light of the purple discharge from Traditions Dairy, supposedly a zero discharge facility, last October 2010. That was the fourth documented discharge because of silage leachate… As the IEPA, USEPA, and the Attorney General enforce their permitting process, Bos is finding it very difficult to ever operate his mega-dairy in its present design and location. A.J. Bos and his project proposal, illegally permitted by the IDOA [Illinois Department of Agriculture], and trial have left bruises and scars on the communities in the area. Divisiveness caused by the IDOA, Big Ag, Farm Bureau and paid lobbyists, pitted citizens against each other. People will be defined forever by “who was for it” and “who was against it.” There is a movement reaching across this country. Citizens want their rights back. H.O.M.E.S. has connected with people who have been in battles for 10-15 years. With these people, we will fight to reclaim these rights and standings because without them, we have no safety net. Without these groups, polluted air and water will be the only things our children and their children will ever know. www.stopthemegadairy.org
Submitted by Lorna Farnum at: October 10, 2012
In 1976, the Long Beach City College Women's Sailing Team won the right to participate in the North American Intercollegiate Sailing Championship which were hosted by MIT & sailed on the Charles River. Coming from our home base on Alamitos Bay in California to the foul water of the Charles River was quite a shock. It was even more shocking to here from the locals that it had been even worse. When sailing it is very hard to stay dry, but we tried very hard to win the race without getting dunked into the river. When you're the crew member whose job it is to pull in the jib while hiking way out to use your body weight to keep the boat from capsizing in very strong winds it was a daunting task & almost impossible to do. Overall, we sailed the Larks & Tech dinghies into 7th place. Not bad for a 2 year college sailing against the top 4 year colleges in North America. We took home the prize for coming the furthest as calculated by the student sailors from MIT using the curvature of the Earth in their formulas. One of my teammates also took home some kind of finger nail fungus that she had gotten from the Charles River. It took her doctors along time to find out what medication to give her to kill that fungus. I'm exceptionally surprised & gladdened that the Charles River is now clean enough to host swimming races. Amazing!! Simply Amazing.