NEWS: Infrastructure "shouldn't be controversial," says President Obama in City Club of Cleveland Q&A

President Barack Obama addressed a crowd of 500 guests at the Global Center for Health and Innovation yesterday, focusing his remarks on the federal budget, middle-class economics and manufacturing opportunities.

But both infrastructure and environmental regulation made it into the President's comments as he welcomed questions from the audience after his speech.



"What has surprised me," said President Obama, when asked what has surprised him most since beginning his first term, "even though I had served in the Senate, was the continued difficulties in Congress getting stuff done that shouldn’t be controversial." He continued:

ALGAE: 5 things you should know before Friday's state Lake Erie algae meeting

Collecting beach water quality samples at Villa Angela Beach in Cleveland.

Since State Senator Randy Gardner and Representative Chris Redfern are hosting a special meeting of the Lake Erie Legislative Caucus this Friday—focusing on algae problems plaguing the lake and, most recently, the Toledo area’s drinking water—here are 5 important points to help frame the discussion.

The toxic algae problem has been recurring for years. Then again, river fires were once a recurring problem, too.

We believe Toledo's water emergency could be the Cuyahoga River fire of this generation. Few realize that the 1969 blaze was one of at least 13 different Cuyahoga River fires since 1860; the last event became a turning point for many reasons, inspiring the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Water Act. It inspired action.

"It took numerous fires on the river and decades to develop and implement a regulatory strategy to address the issues that faced the Cuyahoga River and other waterways at that time," says Director of Watershed Programs Frank Greenland. "We cannot afford to wait to develop a comprehensive response to the issue of algal blooms in our waterways. Public health depends upon an appropriate and timely response."

Could this be that moment?

VIDEO: James Earl Jones describes the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire [#Cuyahoga45]

In this clip from a 1978 documentary, Cuyahoga, James Earl Jones' booming voice tells the tale of the famous 1969 Cuyahoga River fire that turned national attention on the state of our environment and inspired action in Northeast Ohio and far beyond.

HISTORY: How a dying river saved our lives.

Two men wearing life jackets on a small boat on Lake Erie, 1976. Both the boat and the men are covered in oil polluting Lake Erie. Image courtesy of Cleveland State University Library Division of Special Collections.

When the oozing Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, consider that it might not have even made the "Top 10" list of Cleveland river fires at the time.

A spark ignited pollution on the Crooked River on June 22, 1969—but few today realize that it actually was the thirteenth time it had happened.

Thirteen times. Take that in for a moment. The river had once been so polluted and abused since the 1860s that tar-black layers of filth burned on its surface on at least 13 other occasions.

BASEBALL: Burn on, big river. Burn on.

Cleveland, baseball, and Randy Newman are forever linked.

Ever since Major League hit the big screen in 1989, Newman's song "Burn on" (1972) has come to be synonymous with Cleveland, the Cleveland Indians, and the start of summer.

For us and our responsibility to protect Lake Erie, it means something more.

The song is based in part on the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969 and the awful state of our lake and river at the time. Just like the fictional Lou Brown's and Jake Taylor's Indians, the lake and river have made major improvements the region can be proud of.

Pollution may still be the New York Yankees of the challenges Lake Erie faces, but we do have a plan.

GREEN: St. Patrick's Day and 5 stories of green with Cuyahoga River connections

Our mighty Cuyahoga has never received the full Chicago River green-dye treatment, but it has some green tales to tell.

Here are five interesting stories you may not have heard.

5. The Cuyahoga River was dyed green in 2008. Mysteriously.

In January of that year, the City of Akron discovered a green dye in the Cuyahoga River near their wastewater treatment plant. The plant said they were not responsible for the dye, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency investigated the discovery. No information was available about the official source of the dye.

#TBT: That time James Earl Jones narrated a film about the Cuyahoga River

Post by Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

LIST: Wait, people thought Cleveland was bad?

"16 reasons Cleveland is not as bad as you think"? We guess 16 is a fine place to start, but the list could go on and on, and there are a few glaring omissions.

This week, Buzzfeed posted a fun piece with that title, noting examples like Charles Ramsey's heroics, our Millionaire's Row past, homegrown celebs, and 21,000 acres of glorious Cleveland Metroparks.

Plus the Hollywood attention we're getting over the next two months.

All great examples, believe us, but there could have been at least these three others.

VIDEO: Stunning footage! No seriously, it's footage of us stunning.

Those who fish for sport might consider this cheating. For us, it's science.

One of the exhibits we'll have on display at Earth Day Coalition's EarthFest 2013 at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds this Sunday will be our electrofishing boat. It's a craft we use to stun fish with a jolt of electricity:

Why? As we said, it's for science. We stun the fish in order to collect and study them. Their condition and the variety of species we find in the Cuyahoga River help us determine water quality improvements over time.

NEWS: Don't be shad. Fish die-off is common, natural

In recent weeks, hikers along Metroparks streams or winter-stroll beachgoers may have seen a surge of dead fish washed up on the shore.

Is the die-off of these silvery blue-green fish a sign of environmental turmoil, or a natural occurrence? It’s the latter, and it happens regularly.

Shad can’t stand the change: Known as the eastern gizzard shad, this fish species (Dorosoma cepedianum) is not native to Lake Erie or its tributaries, and is very sensitive to rapid temperature changes. Lake Erie’s and streams' water temperature—because of shallow depth and northerly locations—can change very quickly in early and late winter months, causing die-offs of significant numbers of gizzard shad.

“It can be unsightly, but it’s important to note that in most cases the die-offs are natural,” said John Rhoades, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Supervisor of Environmental Assessment.

Colder temperatures slow the shad’s body’s ability to draw nutrients from surrounding water, which commonly leads to starvation during colder months as well, causing further die-offs in December, January and February.

VIDEO: Dead fish near our treatment plant? It's nature and temperature, not pollution.

Are we poisoning fish by releasing polluted water into the Cuyahoga River? Contrary to the YouTube video's inaccurate captions above, we are not.

We were alerted to this video today, a clip that was posted to YouTube January 31 with the title, "NEORSD sewage kills fish in Cuyahoga River." The title and captions were incorrect, but the occurrence is worth a closer look to understand the issues and results.

The simple answer: This kind of fish die-off is a natural event at this time of year, not a result of sewage pollution in our effluent. It comes down to water temperature and temperature-sensitive fish.

LIST: Top 7-and-a-half ways wastewater treatment is like a romantic relationship

OK, it would be way too easy to make a J. Geils Band reference here when comparing romance to wastewater treatment, but there are far more similarities between cleaning sewage and finding that special someone than you may have expected.

Here are a few.

Don't be afraid to confront a dirty past.

This undated Cleveland Plain Dealer photo by Marv Greebe was taken sometime in the 1960s, showing former PD reporter Richard Ellers on a trip along the (to put it mildly) polluted Cuyahoga River.

NEWS: Sewer District, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office collaborate on regional firing range

Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center, Cuyahoga Heights

Yesterday, the Board of Trustees for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District approved a resolution allowing the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office to develop and operate a Regional Law Enforcement Firing Range and Training Facility on Sewer District property. This is a 30-year lease agreement.

ARCHIVES: A photograph that changed everything

Like rummaging through family photos from a dusty hatbox in the attic, finding a photo in our Sewer District archives can have amazing emotional impacts.

We found this one today.

15 new species found in Cuyahoga River since '06

Fifteen new species of fish and 31 new species of macroinvertebrates found in the Cuyahoga River in the last three years are signs of increased diversity and improving environmental health. These findings and more are available in the our complete 2009 Cuyahoga River Environmental Monitoring report.

Remembering the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire

Two vintage clips from Cleveland's NewsNet5 show footage from the 1969 blaze and a 1989 follow-up story on the fire anniversary.