John Lennon once harmonically asked the world to “Picture yourself in a boat on a river” Than goes on to further orally paint the scene; “with tangerine trees and marmalade skies” along with “cellophane flowers of yellow and green, towering over your head”(Lennon). To me this description of “a river” illustrates Lennon’s groovy sentiment towards his lyrical wonderland that begins on a river. His exceptionally vivid portrayal of a common sight, a river, is what brings life to the words. Unlike Lennon, when I see a river the historical portion of my brain begins churning away, not the artsy sliver. I try to envision the multitude of necessities these waters once provided for humanity. Rivers were the early highways of the world. The fish they harbor and fresh water contained helped sustain the natives and settlers for generations. The force its liquid possessed helped generate the power to run the early industrial world. Unfortunately today, our modern rivers have become both intentional and unintentional outlets for toxic pollution.
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| Portion of the Ohio River verified to contain elevated N20 levels (Beaulieu) |
As a native of Louisville, and its inherent banks on the Ohio River, I have come to experience a 21st century viewpoint of this waterway, it’s a cesspool. What leaves me torn is that I am also a descendent of a member of the Corps of Discovery that assisted Lewis and Clark in exploring the west. The sense of pride and tradition the Ohio River evokes conflicts with the current appearance and quality of the river. The disregard for these once cherished beacons of civilization is appalling. The Ohio River and many of its adjacent American historical landmarks have fallen into disarray over the past century, what can be done to limit the damage and preserve the quality of these national icons?
Today when most residents of metropolitan Louisville hear the name “The Ohio River”, it does not typically evoke the most sanitary thoughts. Surprisingly the waterfront still does host numerous popular events annually; such as Thunder over Louisville, Forecastle Festival, and the Louisville Ironman Triathlon. Most of these events limit themselves to the banks of the river or the airspace over head, except for the brave souls of the Ironman triathlon. Courageously they dive face first into the murky tea shaded water in pursuit of glory. The taste those contestants must undoubtedly experience causes me to gag and makes my stomach curdle just thinking about it.
In response to Lennon’s visions of a river, well my river is the Ohio; there are no tangerine trees, but occasionally marmalade skies, if you time it right. This is my river; this was my ancestor’s river. Now days it is hard to last more than a week without seeing something on the news regarding a new restaurant or industrial plant that is dumping waste water into the river. This is the unfortunate reality of urbanization. According to a report conducted by Beaulieu, Shuster, and Reholz, three analysts for the Environmental Protection Agency; the Ohio River contains significant microbial activity that leads to the production of anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. The rise in microbial activity is caused from nitrogen enriched water. The result of nitrous oxide concentrations in the atmosphere is acid rain and ozone erosion. Elevated nitrogen levels have been documented in soil samples taken from surrounding fields (Beaulieu).
Louisville’s power providing industry, American Electric Power or AEP has been a frequent offender regarding environmental disregard. The firm has overlooked reported cases around the country of allowing coal ash residue to seep into ground water and inevitably entering nearby rivers (Associated). According to the Unites States EPA’s Clean Water Act of 1972 it is “unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained” (summary).
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| Industrial runoff entering the Ohio River (point) |
Other non coal related contaminants the water is said to contain is polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other dioxins. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency these are amongst the world’s most toxic manmade chemicals (Klepal). The river also posses elevated mercury levels, a persistent neurotoxin that can find it way from fish into humans (Lewis). These elevated levels are attributed to causing the fish consumption advisory of one fish per month, per person (Klepal).
As an adolescent I spent the first six years of my childhood growing up mere miles from the banks of the Ohio River. I felt no personal connection to the river, nor little appreciation. I did not understand the historical importance of this vital Mississippi River tributary. It did not happen until my later teenage years and early college years that I gained a new found admiration for this stretch of the river.
Roughly seven years back, while growing up in New Jersey, my late Grandpa Ray passed along some elderly wisdom of our family lineage to me. He was not much of a story teller, except when it came to lavish World War II stories he lived out. He seasoned my brain with the knowledge that we had a relative that joined Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their journey of westward discovery. To the best of his shaky knowledge, our ancestor was a French engineer who specialized in boat construction.
Through research of my own, I pieced together my grandfather’s story with documented historical facts. This allowed for me to formulate my own personal view and appreciation for the event. My exploration of documents leads me to information regarding a more widely appreciated man in the area, William Clark. I sought knowledge of the localized impact and significance of the Clark family in the Kentuckiana area. It was originally difficult identify what brought the Clark family to Louisville. If the family never re-located here then Louisville would not have been a reason for Meriwether Lewis to port here. The family relocation inspired the first question I sought local knowledge regarding; why did the Clark family choose Louisville? The obvious place to seek an answer was by visiting Historical Locust Grove, the primary Clark family historic grounds. A local historian and volunteer at the site; Steve Able was the man whom supplied some answers.
According to Mr. Able; in 1772 at the age of 20, George Rogers lead a surveying crew west of the Appalachian Mountains to map the land in present day Virginia on the Western side. In 1776 George Rogers, a military man in the American Revolution was selected to lead a crew of 1,200 men to fend off British allied Shawnee Indian tribes that were attacking settlements of fur trappers. As a young man of only 24 he was entrusted with the task of supplying gunpowder to the settlers in the area to help protect the land. At that time the land was still part of Virginia and largely unexplored and uninhabited by colonists. Steve Able stated that “From this success he gained notoriety in Virginia”. Shortly after that he proposed the idea to make Kentucky is own separate state starting west of the Appalachian Mountains. “This was a treacherous route to travel which made it difficult to supply the frontier without further westward development” (Able).
The Clark family was now ready to relocate;“In 1785 following the conclusion of the American Revolution John and Ann Rogers Clark decided to move their family to the newly established Kentucky County”(Able). They first settled near Mulberry Hill, in an area George Rogers had previously scouted and deemed desirable. Five years later Lucy Clark Croghan and her husband William Croghan, George Rogers’s surveying partner, built the Locust Grove settlement. Locust Grove contained a much more opulent main house. However, William permanently resided at the modest Mulberry Hill (Able).
Next I was curious how Meriwether and William met. The answer provided was William and Meriwether were both captains in the sharpshooter division of the Virginia Regular Army. “Meriwether was raised as a step son by Thomas Jefferson after his own father’s death in the American Revolution”. John Lewis was very close with the Virginia politician prior to his passing. The former governor was able to provide advanced schooling in scientific and military practices for his adopted son. He was groomed to lead President Jefferson’s long awaited voyage. His objective; to establish an American presence in the far northwest; to investigate a water passage to the Western Sea; to map and investigate the new Louisiana purchase; to report the culture, commerce, and capabilities of the many native-American tribes of the area; and to observe and collect botanical and biological specimens”(General). A few skills that the young aristocrat Meriwether lacked were surveying land, charting waterways, trapping game, and communicating with native tribes. These happened to be the skill sets of his comrade and friend William Clark. William was an obvious first choice to accompany him on the voyage (Able).
Meriwether Lewis began the journey in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 1803. With a few men he set off to meet his companion William Clark further down the Ohio River. After experience unforeseen problems and time delays reaching William Clark, Lewis decided to stay put for the winter. The winter settlements was on the banks of modern day Indiana where they spent time recruiting knowledgeable guides to help lead them to St. Louis, the next noted civilization. West of there was all newly purchased uncharted territory gained through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from the French.
This lay over period beginning in September 1803 in Clarksville, Indiana is where I feel the connection with my family history tie in. According to my Grandfather, it was an ancestor of his mother whose last name was Sampson that joined up for a stretch of the journey during the winter layover in southern Indiana. My Grandpa was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. His mother’s family dates back generations residing all around the great lakes region. In the 1700’s most of the western great lake states were still French land before being claimed by the United States just prior to the Louisiana Purchase.
This is why albeit minor; I still feel a connection to the significance of the Ohio River once held. Before the age of planes, trains, or cars the Ohio River, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Oregon River and Columbia River were the essential highways of travel. This cloudy mucky river that we take for granted on a daily basis here in Kentucky, was once the optimal path westward. Being an American, I feel pride in knowing that 208 years ago these two heroic Americans who discovered the western frontier were stationed just across the river. It is even more astonishing knowing that a blood relative of mine once was confided in by these two patriots.
It is hard imagining a skiff made of bark and animal hide gracefully cutting down the river with any efficiency. Still, this is what I try to picture sitting on the banks of our modern chocolate milk-esque Ohio River; a bark long boat, weaving through modern coal barges, under bridges, and around piers. I imagine a small fleet of colonists, traveling into the unknown, with the utmost confidence in their mission. People today with great reason rarely and cautiously submerge their bodies into the murky Ohio. 200 years ago that same river was viewed as a blessing and an opportunity that provided sustenance and transportation. Time has changed our perceptions and values of simple things such as nature and has unfortunately diminished our appreciation.
I would presume that William Clark and my ancestor would be disappointed with the overall degradation the Ohio River has endured over the past two centuries. Many early Ohio Valley residents had substantial portions of their diet filled from locally caught fish. If these men had to adhere to our modern day advised consumption limit of; one fish per month, do to contamination, many people would not have been able to eat adequately (Klepal).
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| Young men fishing at the Falls of the Ohio- 1930 ([1994.18.0973]) |
Morality and common sense tell us that cleansing the river of contaminates is the right thing to do. There can clearly only be one barrier preventing cleaning efforts and that is the inevitable cost. That seems to be the ongoing debate in recent years whether the improvements justify the debt incurred. The issue appears to be of low priority in the grand scheme of political budgeting. However some independent firms have either court ordered or charitably donated to the cleanup efforts. In 2007 AEP forcibly invested $4.6 billion dollars in the cleanup efforts around the country to help correct their prior environmental neglect. Grant Nakayama of the EPA stated the mandated cleanup efforts of AEP would “save $32 billion in health costs per year for Americans” (Associated). The Ohio River is the primary source of drinking water for more than 5 million people (2010, pg.7). These facts validate the importance of cleaning up our waterways.
Ohio Valley residents need to take action to prevent and limit further pollution of the river. Citizens are becoming upset with the current leniency the cleanup process entails. Once the EPA files a report for a contaminated waterway, the location is given 10 years to “improve” the water purity (Klepal). Richard Nixon created the EPA behind the mission: “to protect human health and the environment” (Lewis). Today the river is largely taken for granted and underappreciated. Its bounties are spoiled by the poisons humans keep feeding it. Action must be taken to regulate and preserve our waterways. Rivers were once the highways of travel, nowadays rivers have lost that luster and value in the United States.
The river has fallen into disarray over the past several decades do to urbanization and industrialization in the modern world. Granted our standards for purity and cleanliness have increased along with the compounding pollution problems. The Ohio River once symbolized mobility and freedom in this new land. Over the last 100 years American society has exploited the waterways of our nation with little regard for the effects. Consequently the actions of another era have tainted the glory our once pristine waterways once had. Hopefully with an informed collective conciseness we will be able to preserve some of the “cellophane flowers of yellow and green, towering over your head”, along the banks of the Ohio for decades to come (Lennon).
Citations
Scholarly Journals
Beaulieu, J., Shuster, W., Rebholz, J., (2010). Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Large, Impounded River: The Ohio River: the Environmental Science & Technology magazine, 44 (19), 7527-7533. Retrieved July 21, 2011
Lewis, J.. (2008, September). What's Wrong with the Way the Environmental Protection Agency Is Being Run-and What Can Be Done to Fix It. E : the Environmental Magazine, 19(5), 36,38. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1559558831).
Other sources
[1994.18.0973], Herald Post collection, 1994.18, special collections, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky.
2010 annual report. (n.d.). In ORSANCO annual report. Retrieved from http://www.orsanco.org/images/stories/files/annualReport/2010annualreport.pdf Able, S. (2011, June 29). William Clark, Louisville significance, westward exploration. personal interview presented at Locust Grove.
Associated Press. (2007, October 9). power firm agrees to record pollution cleanup. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21198255/ns/us_newsenvironment/t/power-firm-agrees-record-pollution-cleanup/
General William Clark. (n.d.). Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://www.locustgrove.org/aboutlg_williamclark.html
Klepal, D. (2004, January 23). Ohio's waters more polluted. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved from http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/01/23/loc_ohiorivers.html
Lennon, J. (1967). Lucy in the sky with diamonds [Recorded by The Beatles]. On Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Record]. London, UK: Parlophone. [point source of pollution] [Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/ Po-Re/Pollution-Sources-Point-and-Nonpoint.html summary of the clean water act. (1972). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from EPA website:
http://www.epa.gov/regulations/laws/cwa.html 
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