It was just a small fire, one of many that had erupted on Ohio's noxious Cuyahoga River over the years. But despite its minor nature, the Cleveland conflagration of June 22, 1969, became a sort of environmental poster child, illustrating the degradation of America's rivers.

The Return of the Cuyahoga, a documentary airing April 18 on PBS, suggests that the fire came at just the right moment in history. Environmental concerns were starting to become part of the national agenda, and one short year after the blaze, that unease produced the first Earth Day.

Partially because of congressional testimony about pollution given by Cleveland's then-Mayor Carl Stokes, the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972. More importantly, the ways in which the once putrid river has been brought back to health provide a template for other polluted waterways across America.

Also see Return of the Cuyahoga, a 2:45 clip from YouTube.

For the full article, see Lewis Beale, "Charting a Crooked River’s Renaissance : The revival of Cleveland's incendiary Cuyahoga River teaches that environmental restoration, no matter how daunting, is possible", Miller-McCune, April 09, 2008.