Northeast Pennsylvania's rivers are cleaner because of a landmark environmental law that turned 40 on Thursday.
The federal Clean Water Act was adopted in 1972 with a goal of restoring the nation's waterways to "swimmable and fishable" condition after serving for decades as basins for industrial and human waste. It required communities to build sewage treatment plants and industries to adopt pollution controls.
The Lackawanna River, part of which was certified as a Class A trout habitat this year, is seen as an example of the law's achievements.
"Before the Clean Water Act, all of the sewers just discharged into the river with no treatment at all," said Bernard McGurl, director of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association.
In the 1970s, only unfortunate trout swam in the waterway. As part of Operation Fish Watch, Ed Shoener and other environmental educators would plunge the fish into the polluted river and let students clock how long it took for them to die.
When they autopsied the fish, the students found a common killer.
"Usually it was something coating their gills," he said, "or no oxygen because the river was so loaded with waste."
As the law improved the quality of water, it also helped raise rivers' esteem in communities that had, literally, turned their backs on them: homes and businesses were traditionally built to face away from waterways.
"Forty years ago, there was no riverfront development almost any place because the rivers were disgusting," said Mr. Shoener, now president of Shoener Environmental, a consulting firm. "They were places you avoided."
The Clean Water Act continues to challenge communities and businesses to meet the standards necessary to restore waterways. In recent years, the cleanup effort has become more about personal responsibility for pollution.
"As the pollution from industrial sites was cleaned up, it became clear that the other pollutant streams were much more diffuse and integrated into the lifestyle and economic functionality of the community," Mr. McGurl said. "That's where the rubber meets the road now."
Municipal sewer authorities in the region are undertaking expensive upgrades to keep heavy rains from overwhelming their systems and sending untreated sewage into streams. Farmers face increased scrutiny for the fertilizer and animal waste that runs off fields. And suburban and urban property owners will have to curb the dirty stormwater that floods parking lots and gutters on its way to streams.
Mr. Shoener said "people get upset" when they learn they have to address the persistent, diffuse sources of pollution, "but if you can clean those things up, it makes a big difference."
He added that the same complaints leveled against environmental controls now - that they will bankrupt communities and businesses - were argued in the 1970s.
"It didn't," he said. "It's actually made the country and our community a better place to live."
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com