2009: YEAR OF THE RIVER

ALMOST FORTY YEARS AGO...June 22, 1969 to be exact,
on a quiet summer day in Cleveland, Ohio,
a bit of molten steel splashed out of a rail car
crossing a bridge over the Cuyahoga River.
It leaped over the railing and landed on a slick of
industrial waste floating on the surface of the river.
The slick caught fire.

It wasn't the first fire on this river, nor the first on any industrial river.
It wasn't the worst fire on the river. In fact, as fires go it was minor.
But it happened in the right place at the right time to gain national attention
and to make enough people take notice and take action.

Throughout 2009, we will commemorate that fire, recognize the impact that event had
on the entire country and the environmental movement it sparked, and celebrate the
"re-birth day" of the Cuyahoga River.

We will also report on the state of the river, review the progress that's been made to clean up the Cuyahoga, focus on what still needs to be done and kick off an action plan for restoration and protection.

The 40th anniversary year will also be our time to envision what we want and need to have in place for the 50th anniversary, then start planning and organizing for that next milestone.

This section of our website will eventually provide information about all the events, programs, projects and pieces of our yearlong celebration. In the meantime, it is a work in progress.

We invite you to become a partner in this project.
If you have an idea or a plan for how you would like to help us celebrate, or if you'd like to volunteer, organize a committee or event, or make a tax-deductible contribution or become a sponsor, please contact us.

We're all in this (watershed) together.

Contact us
by phone: 216-241-2414 ext. 610
by email: goodmanj@cuyahogariverrap.org
by snailmail: 1299 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114

WHO ARE WE?
The Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization is the nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that manages the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan (RAP), the Cuyahoga American Heritage River Initiative (AHR), and the Cuyahoga/Lake Erie Environmental Restoration Technology Center (CLEERTEC).

For twenty years we have worked with stakeholders and communities in four counties and twenty-three tributary watersheds to restore and protect the Cuyahoga River and the nearshore areas of Lake Erie.

Learn more at www.crcpo.org