Clean Water, Clean Air, Clean Thinking on My Green Environment

It is the longest running river on the East Coast of the U.S. The Susquehanna flows 444 miles from upstate New York through Central and Eastern Pennsylvania down to the Chesapeake Bay. To my knowledge the Susquehanna has never caught fire like The Cuyahoga River in Ohio. (That infamous event help spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s.) But the Susquehanna River has suffered terrible pollution for over a century. Raw sewage from Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, PA and all the small towns in between was piped directly into the river and its
tributaries. Then industries set up business on the river banks so they could dump their hazardous waste in the flowing waters rather than pay to have it safely hauled away. As kids growing up in the area we witnessed all kinds of nasty stuff floating by in the river and, as a precaution, were given tetanus and typhoid shots . Almost all of that has been cleaned up now by sewer treatment plants, government mandates, and hefty fines for polluters who put profit before people's health. At present, the river is recovering with clear water and some fish plus other marine life. Even the Bald Eagle in this area is thriving once again as it glides overhead seeking the ever growing food source below. So a kayak trip down the Susquehanna River today will take your breath away - not from pollution of course, but because of the beautiful surroundings with an abundance of wildlife, and that awesome feeling of being as one with nature.

Now don't get me wrong. One still should not drink the unfiltered Susquehanna. Sewage and industrial waste are gone, but mine acid runoff is a prevailing health problem that will probably never be corrected in our lifetimes. You see, coal was king at one time and mined all up and down Pennsylvania's Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys. When the country turned to other energy sources, the mine owners took their fortunes and left, leaving behind abandoned coal mines for others to worry about. Before long, the mines started caving in and taking down house after house built on land where the digging got too close to the surface. In some areas whole communities were destroyed. Coal dust from the mines permeated the air for decades creating one of the highest rates of respiratory problems, like Asthma and other lung diseases, in the country. Mines dug near the Susquehanna also collapsed allowing the river to run through the maze of mine tunnels where there is almost an unlimited supply of coal residue producing a toxic acid. But the river, by far, is cleaner and in much better shape than it was in the 1960s. The coal barons are long gone so the responsibility for correcting the mess they left behind has fallen to the local people with some help from the State and Federal Governments.

The Susquehanna River is not unique when it comes to random pollution and total disregard for the environment. Indeed, almost all rivers in the U.S. in the 1960s were heavily polluted. But the Susquehanna's survival and come back story is a reminder that both government and citizen need to work together to ensure that our environment and natural surroundings stay healthy and free from senseless assaults by greedy profiteers.