--- title: Environmentalism History: The Importance of Cleveland's Cuyahoga River description: June 22, 1969: The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, drawing national attention and helping the passage of the Clean Water Act canonical: https://time.com/3921976/cuyahoga-fire/ author: Jennifer Latson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-22T14:30:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:14.707Z article:section: History og:title: Environmentalism History: The Importance of Cleveland's Cuyahoga River og:description: June 22, 1969: The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland og:url: https://time.com/3921976/cuyahoga-fire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11451a2d5c28d3d3/698854abcd1bba66f46fbd5a/river.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cuyahoga River og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Environmentalism History: The Importance of Cleveland's Cuyahoga River twitter:description: June 22, 1969: The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11451a2d5c28d3d3/698854abcd1bba66f46fbd5a/river.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Burning River That Sparked a Revolution > Sponsored content. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8) (0:48)  _Published 2013-05-09. Climate Change_ by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jun 22, 2015 2:30 PM UTC  A fire tug fights flames on the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland on June 25, 1952. A fire tug fights flames on the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland on June 25, 1952. AP Images by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jun 22, 2015 2:30 PM UTC It was the disaster that ignited an environmental revolution. On this day, June 22, in 1969, the Cuyahoga River burst into flames in Cleveland when [sparks from a passing train](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/us/21river.html?%5Fr=0) set fire to oil-soaked debris floating on the water’s surface. When [TIME published dramatic photos](http://www.wired.com/2011/06/0622cleveland-cuyahoga-river-fire-burns-again/) of the burning river — so saturated with sewage and industrial waste that it “oozes rather than flows,” per the story — concern erupted nationwide. The flaming Cuyahoga became a figurehead for America’s mounting environmental issues and sparked [wide-ranging reforms](http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/cuyahoga/), including the passage of the Clean Water Act and the creation of federal and state environmental protection agencies. But the episode itself did not quite live up to its billing. It was not the first fire, or even the worst, on the Cuyahoga, which had lit up at least a dozen other times before, [according to the Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/22/the-fable-of-the-burning-river-45-years-later/). Flare-ups on the river were so common that this particular fire, which was extinguished in half an hour and did relatively little damage, barely made headlines in the local papers. And industrial dumping was already improving by the time of the 1969 blaze. As the _Post_ points out, “The reality is that the 1969 Cuyahoga fire was not a symbol of how bad conditions on the nation’s rivers could become, but how bad they had once been. The 1969 fire was not the first time an industrial river in the United States had caught on fire, but the last.” In fact, TIME’s dramatic photos were not even from the 1969 fire, which was put out before anyone thought to take a picture. The magazine instead published archival photos from a much bigger fire on the same river 17 years earlier, in 1952. The story’s points were valid, however, and even more shocking than the photo spread. Aside from the Cuyahoga, in which there were no signs of visible life — “not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes” — unregulated dumping befouled nearly every river that passed through a major metropolitan area. The Potomac, [TIME noted](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,901182-1,00.html), left Washington “stinking from the 240 million gallons of wastes that are flushed into it daily” while “Omaha’s meatpackers fill the Missouri River with animal grease balls as big as oranges.” While the Clean Water Act might not have prevented any more river fires, which were already on their way out, per the _Post_, it did force cities to clean up their act, and their water, [in other ways](http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/01/after%5Fthe%5Fflames%5Fthe%5Fstory%5Fbeh.html). By 1989, the Cuyahoga was not quite pristine — but it was fireproof, [according to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/us/river-not-yet-clean-but-it-s-fireproof.html). Some signs of life had reappeared, including insects and mollusks. And Cleveland’s water pollution control commissioner averred that the Cuyahoga no longer oozed, but “often gleam\[ed\] and sparkle\[d\].” Almost like, well, a river. **_Read more, from 1969, in the TIME Vault_**: [T](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,901182-1,00.html)[he Price of Optimism](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,901182-1,00.html) ### Earth From Above: The Blue Marble  2012\. A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite—Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface. NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring  2012\. A view of the eastern hemisphere of earth from space. NASA's second 'Blue Marble' image was created from data acquired by a new instrument aboard the Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). REUTERS/NASA—NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring  1972\. View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is the Malagasy Republic. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast. NASA  1968\. Earth's rise photographed by the Apollo 8 crew. 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