Thanks CT for Cleaning Up U.S. Rivers (Ep. 81)

Connecticut’s rivers – like so many around colonial America – were the waste receptacles of their time. Sewage and industrial waste, bulky garbage and many other items clogged and polluted the waterways people depended on for drinking water and transportation. The rivers smelled horrible and were unhealthy. What turned them around were pivotal court cases involving New Britain’s use of Piper Brook, towns using the Naugatuck River, and Danbury’s pollution of the Still River. Local historian Bill Devlin explains how the courts helped Connecticut lead the way in improving stream quality, which paved the way for the federal Clean Water Act.