Believe it or not, today marks one year since Blazing Paddles and the City of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga50 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire! Cuyahoga50’s 5 days and 25 events were a reminder of how far the Cuyahoga River had come since sparks from a passing train ignited oil-soaked debris in the Cuyahoga River.

Photos from that day on the river were a reflection of decades of efforts by federal, state, and local agencies buttressed by the passion of individuals hell-bent on making the Cuyahoga River a healthy place for wildlife and recreation. Today we see increasing usage of the Cuyahoga River as a recreational amenity while along its banks, commercial and residential real estate development projects continue to pop up.

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While we had great plans to host the 3rd annual Blazing Paddles this June 27th, the global pandemic has necessarily put those plans on hold. In the meantime, progress on the improved health of the Cuyahoga River continues with:

The removal of the Brecksville Dam. Read Canalway Partners’ post
All downtown Akron sewers now connect to the Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel. The projects are part of the Akron Waterways Renewed program, which is set to store and provide treatment of about 1.1 billion gallons of combined sewer overflow from local waterways, including the Cuyahoga River, during a year with typical rainfall.
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District green infrastructure grant programs continue to be rolled out, improving the health of area watersheds.

Today’s 51st anniversary of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire comes one day after the June 21, 1927 birthday of Carl Stokes, who Clevelanders elected the first black mayor of a major U.S. city in 1967. In light of today’s Black Lives Mater movement, Stokes understood then that, while a swath of Cleveland's citizens were experiencing racial discrimination, ALL of its citizens were being affected by polluted air and water and his sense of a healthy environment serving as a wider social justice front planted seeds for the budding environmental movement. Months after his election, Stokes' director of public works, Ben Stefanski, persuaded Stokes to start a massive effort to clean-up the Cuyahoga River. Cleveland voters were asked to approve (that is, tax themselves) $100 million in bonds to improve existing facilities and build 25 miles of trunk-line sewers plus a modern sewage treatment plant. In an era when the U.S Federal Government was annually spending $185 million on pollution mitigation efforts for the entire country, Cleveland voters stepped up and approved the proposed bond by a 2-1 margin.

Today we are especially mindful to recognize the opportunity now exists to improve usage of northeast Ohio’s waterways by a broader audience. We’ve been learning a lot from Gerry James, who we partnered with on last years’ Blazing Paddles. His “The Waterman Series”, is a collective effort of paddle sports enthusiasts, grassroots organizers, communities and sponsors who promote paddlesports racing as an inclusive activity. We will continue to listen and learn how we can improve the usage of our lakes and rivers by a more integrated community.

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