The Cuyahoga River that runs through Cleveland famously burst into flames in 1969 because it was full of industrial pollution. "I think we can look at the Cuyahoga River as one of the iconic events in environmental history," says Henderson. "When you think of a river you think of water. When you think of water, you think of something that puts out fire. When your river becomes a fire hazard, you know something is wrong."
The fire on the Cuyahoga galvanized public opposition to the way factories and cities were dumping waste into our waterways, using them as open sewers without concern for public safety and health risks. "This has been the history of human habitation," says Henderson. "Looking at rivers as a way to dump waste and move commerce."
The event eventually led to an explosion of federal and state action. Groups such as the NRDC formed a year later, in 1970, as did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Then, in 1972, the Clean Water Act came into law, establishing national scientifically-based standards guaranteeing all Americans equal access to clean water. "NRDC took action to change the law, so that not only did we have a federal agency that would be reviewing and figuring out what could be done about this, but we would actually have the focused legal tools to create a better life for the nation," says Henderson. "So we worked to create the clean water act which has transformed the quality of our waterways and improved the quality of our lives."