Deceptive Beauty
Akron Reservoir
The Cuyahoga River has long been a focus of environmentalists, due to its high propensity to catch fire. Since 1969, the river has burst into flames an astounding thirteen times. During the industrial boom of the 1950s and 60s, factories in Akron and Cleveland saw the river as an easy dumping ground for liquid waste, turning the river into a dangerous cesspool nearly devoid of all life.
The river no longer bursts into flames. It no longer resembles a lifeless cesspool of toxic sludge. To a casual observer, the problems may seem to have simply vanished. It is this deceptive beauty that stands to undermine the river’s recovery. Life is returning. However, urban expansion, continued industrial activity, and overall poor water treatment methods threaten to disrupt this uncertain recovery. Bank erosion, human pollution, and run-off are among many of the challenges that must be faced before this river is fully restored.
M. Katie White
The river no longer bursts into flames. It no longer resembles a lifeless cesspool of toxic sludge. To a casual observer, the problems may seem to have simply vanished. It is this deceptive beauty that stands to undermine the river’s recovery. Life is returning. However, urban expansion, continued industrial activity, and overall poor water treatment methods threaten to disrupt this uncertain recovery. Bank erosion, human pollution, and run-off are among many of the challenges that must be faced before this river is fully restored.
M. Katie White
Summit Lake
Drainage in The Valley
Electric River Crossing
Cuyahoga Falls, Partially Removed Dam
Drainage in The Valley #2
River Dump
Lock 29 Akron, Ohio
EPA Brownfield Recovery Site
Removed Dam Kent, Ohio
Downstream from Kent Dam
EPA Bank Erosion Project
Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio
Lock 29 Akron, Ohio
Factory drain Akron, Ohio
Akron Reservoir Dam
Business in the Valley
Tree Erosion
Lock 29 Path Akron, Ohio
Towpath Cleveland, Ohio
Wildlife Restoration Area A
The Flats
Akron Sewage
1907
Bank Erosion Peninsula, Ohio
Fishing Akron,Ohio
View of the Flats
Trash view
Debris downstream from Akron Dam
ALL IMAGES
© M.KATIE WHITE 2023
© M.KATIE WHITE 2023