Cuyahoga river fire

So, good locals are writing to the Sun News with real concerns. Here is another: First, the bad news from the past. It was 50 years ago that our Cuyahoga River caught fire, and more than once. That helped make Cleveland be called "The Mistake on the Lake." That was all due to poor EPA regulations. Yes, the city was dirty and our river was a sewer. The good news: Cleveland has made a great comeback. We are the city on the grow. People are moving back into the city. Along with loft apartments along the river (former historical warehouses), there are Tremont homes selling for a half-million dollars. What a beautiful view of the city and river.  We now have clean manufacturing, and our local steel mill is the most productive (per man hour) in the world. Also, the medical industry has provided many good jobs and good health for us. More good news: Our river no longer burns, and there are fish in the Cuyahoga. Now people enjoy the river, too. At Merwin's Wharf, there are skull boat … [Read more...] about Will the Cuyahoga River burn again?: Sun

La'Ron Harris  AKRON, Ohio -- Human remains that were found late last year by a fisherman in the Cuyahoga River have been identified as a missing Akron man, Akron police said.  The remains were identified as those of La'Ron Harris, 27, of Newton Street, police said. Harris' bones were found by a man on Oct. 5, 2017, who was fly fishing along the bank of the Cuyahoga River.  The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office examined the remains and put them through a series of tests before matching them to Harris' DNA, police said.  Harris was last seen Feb. 20, 2016, about 2:30 a.m. at the Lazy Gator bar in the Merriman Valley's bar complex. A friend, Kaila Watkins, who was 25 at the time, asked him for a ride home, according to police. The two got in the car and Harris drove out of the parking lot onto Weathervane Lane. Instead of continuing on Weathervane Lane towards Merriman Road, Harris drove into an apartment complex driveway and crashed through a … [Read more...] about Human remains found in Cuyahoga River belongs to Akron man who went missing two years ago

CLEVELAND, Ohio - After years of disputes, the Ohio EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have reached an accord in their methods for testing sediment from the Cuyahoga River shipping channel. But they still can't agree on how to interpret the findings. Based on recently released test results, obtained from dozens of sampling sites along six miles of river bottom, EPA scientists have determined that PCB levels remain dangerously high, making the sediment unsuitable for open-lake dumping. "Other contaminants are also present in the sediment, but for our purposes PCBs remain the primary driver of our concerns," said Kurt Princic, chief of EPA's Northeast Ohio District. When the newest test results were compared with three other rounds of testing completed since 2014, the evidence of PCB contamination had not improved over the four-year period, Princic said. The manmade industrial chemicals are hazardous waste, potentially carcinogenic, and have been banned since 1979. "PCBs continue … [Read more...] about Cuyahoga River sediment remains tainted with PCBs, latest tests find

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Western Reserve Fire Museum and Education Center, 310 Carnegie Avenue, will present an illustrated program on Cleveland's historic river fires and fire boats on September 29 at 2 p.m. According to museum historian Paul Nelson, the city has had 15 significant fires on the Cuyahoga River since 1868. All resulted from an accumulation of flammable material on the river's surface. The most famous fire was the 1969 blaze that made national headlines and spurred environmental reform. But it was also the smallest fire, extinguished in 17 minutes, and the last river fire. The largest river fire was in 1952 at the Great Lakes Towing Co. that resulted in $1 million worth of property damage. Admission to the museum is $8 for adults, $5 for children, and kids under 3 are admitted free, as are members. … [Read more...] about Cuyahoga River fires explored at Western Reserve Fire Museum and Education Center

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Fans of the Cuyahoga River want it designated an official Ohio water trail, promoting public access and increasing appreciation for the waterway. "People are already paddling on the Cuyahoga," sad Andrea Irland, of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. "What a water trail would do is make it a better experience and bring a multitude of benefits to the region and the river." Twenty-five organizations -- including the national park, cities along the river and nonprofit groups -- have been working since 2011 on the designation. The West Creek Conservancy will oversee the program. 10 waterways throughout Ohio, including portions of the Sandusky, Vermilion and Black rivers, are listed as Ohio water trails, with specific access points, signage, maps and educational material. The trail is geared to all paddlers: kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards. Kayaks are by far the most popular, said Irland. Ohio Department of … [Read more...] about Cuyahoga River partners creating water trail