The U.S.

Water Pollution Crisis and the Clean Water Act

Pat Munday, PhD Fulbright Scholar Southwest University PRC Spring 2012

Historical Development of the Clean Water Act of 1972

Introduction: 1969 Cuyahoga River fire as mythic event Water pollution and the U.S. industrial revolution Give Earth a Chance: 1960s grassroots activism Leadership: 1960s political calls for action Landmark legislation: the Clean Water Act of 1972

Great Lakes Region, United States

Cleveland, Ohio: Cuyahoga River

Cuyahoga River Fire 1952

(http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1642)

Cuyahoga River Pollution in 1969

http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html

 Video Clip: Cuyahoga River Fire, 1969 One of many fires: 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, and 1952. Historical question: The Cuyahoga River, and other rivers in America, had burned before. Why was this time different? Why did it help lead to environmental policy changes?

Historical Explanation
1960s America: social revolution anti-war movement, civil rights, feminism, opposition to materialism/technology, environmentalism Universities: development of environmental sciences Political will to change: U.S. Congress and President Richard Nixon

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)

Scientist Popular writer Activist
http://www.treehugger.com/

Environmental Philosophy/Literature: Chinese and Japanese Zen Influences

Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957) Alan Watts, The Way of Zen (1957); [Zen = (Chn)] Gary Snyder, Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems (1959) [Cold Mountain = (Hnshn) ]
Hanshan and Shide (Museum Rietberg, Zrich)
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Growth of Grassroots Activism: Sierra Club Membership

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Earth Day 1970

Teach-in for 20 million Most events universitybased Modeled after teach-in protests against the U.S. war in Vietnam Pressure U.S. government to address environmental issues
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Political Awareness: President John F. Kennedy (1961-63)

Even in material terms, prosperity is not enough when there is no equal opportunity to share in it; when economic progress means overcrowded cities, abandoned farms, technological unemployment, polluted air and water, and littered parks and countryside John F. Kennedy, U.S. presidential candidate (1960)
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Political Awareness: President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69)

"We have always prided ourselves on being not only America the strong and America the free, but America the beautiful Today that beauty is in danger. The water we drink, the food we eat, the very air that we breathe, are threatened with pollution President Lyndon B. Johnson (1964)
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The Clean Water Act (1972): The Legislative Process

President Richard Nixon submitted the CWA bill to Congress Vetoed by President based on cost vs. benefit (17 October 1972) Overridden by Senate (18 October 1972) Overridden by House and became law (18 October 1972)

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The Clean Water Act (1972): A Major Achievement

Major achievements 1. Federal agency control over pollution (Environmental Protection Agency, established by President Nixon in 1970 in response to the first Earth Day) 2. Discharge of toxic pollutants prohibited 3. Water must be swimmable and fishable.*

* [drinkable added with Safe Drinking Water Act (1974)]

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The Challenge Continues

American social conflict: corporate vs. environmental interests Environmental support dependent on grassroots citizen groups: Clean Water Action, Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, and hundreds of state/local groups Video clip: Clean Water Action

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Selected Bibliography
Web Sites
CWA general summary http://www.pbs.org/now/science/cleanwater.html CWA legislative overview www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwa.html

Scholarly Journals
Adler (2002). Fables of the Cuyahoga, FORDHAM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL 14: 89-146. Rome (2003). Give Earth a Chance, The Journal of American History 90: 525-554. Stradling and Stradling (2008). Perceptions of the Burning River, Environmental History 13: 515-535.

Books
Milazzo (2006). Unlikely Environmentalists: Congress and Clean Water, 19451972. (University Press of Kansas). Munday (2011). Environmental Protection Agency in Robbins and Wehr (eds), Green Culture: An A-to-Z Guide (Sage Publications, Inc.).

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