TABLE OF CONTENTS In the 1970s, much of Lake Erie was little more than a eutrophied cesspool. Agricultural runoff and organic and nutrient loadings from untreated or partially treated sewage and industrial waste caused dissolved oxygen levels in the lake to drop, introduced toxic effects, and stimulated an explosion in algal growth, leading to eutrophication and strangulation of the lake's aquatic ecosystems. In the early 1970s, anglers could only catch "trash" fish such as carp and eel in many sections of the lake, and much of the lake was posted against swimming due to the presence of pathogens and toxic chemicals.
Around the same time, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire due to pollution from chemical plants and refineries. The Kanawha River at Charleston, West Virginia was essentially an open chemical sewer in the early 1970s. Severely mutated fish and other aquatic organisms were frequently found. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in polar bear flesh in the Arctic Circle and in mothers' milk in the United States. The pesticide DDT weakened eggshells in the brown pelican, bald eagle, and other birds feeding at the top of their food chain, and threatened them with extinction.
Loss of habitat and the effects of pollution have significantly endangered America's aquatic wildlife. In the Illinois River, for example, approximately 66 percent of the indigenous fish species have vanished because of water pollution. In Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 30 of 63 mussel species disappeared after the construction of a major dam. In the...
