By the time of that incident – which sent a chemical plume into the river that serves as the drinking water source for 5 million people – American Rivers already had come up with its list, which included the Ohio River as the country’s second-most endangered. The pollution that already affects those waters was enough.

Yet, as imperiled as the Ohio is, experts also believe that the potential is there for things to change for the better soon.

American Rivers is a national organization working to protect and restore the United States’ rivers and streams. The most endangered rivers list is now in its 38th year. American Rivers reviews nominations from local groups and individuals across the country and picks its list based on three criteria: the river’s significance to people and wildlife, the magnitude of the threat to the river and communities, especially in light of climate change and environmental injustice and a decision in the next 12 months that the public can influence.

According to American Rivers, the magnitude of the threat to the Ohio River is great. Environmental pollution from heavy industrialization, including mining and resource extraction for energy development, chemical production and durable goods manufacturing, has heavily degraded the water’s quality. According to a report released last year by Environment America, nearly 41 million tons of toxic pollution was released into the Ohio River Basin in 2020.

photo by: File photo by Scott McCloskey

A barge makes its way along the Ohio River near Wheeling. American Rivers, a national organization working to protect and restore the United States’ rivers and streams, has put the Ohio River at No. 2 among its 10 most endangered rivers for 2023.

“There’s this legacy of fossil fuel pollution,” said Heather Taylor-Miesle, American Rivers’ Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Regional Conservation. “There are also huge challenges with climate change, not only when it comes to flooding due to extreme weather that’s happening more frequently, but also toxic algal blooms.

“One of the biggest toxic algae blooms in the entire world actually happened on the Ohio River a couple of years ago,” she added. “And that’s just going to become more and more challenging as the world warms.”

Taylor-Misele knows plenty about the Ohio River. She grew up along its waters. Her father was a pipeliner and his job took him up and down the river to towns like Marietta, Ohio, and Ashland, Kentucky. She remembers playing on a tire swing in Ashland that would send her flying into the Ohio River.

The older kids would tease her and her friends, saying they would get cancer from swimming in those waters. She retorted that she’d emerge from the river with a superpower, like Spider-Man.

The Ohio River hasn’t shaken that reputation of its fouled waters. The East Palestine derailment didn’t help, but Taylor-Misele said that was just the latest incident of many that has affected the Ohio.

“The reality is that the East Palestine train derailment is only the most recent legacy of fossil fuel pollution and various accidents where there was a situation where it wasn’t intentional, but it certainly still impacts water,” she said. “Certainly, that is a more recent story, but this is a perpetual story when it comes to the Ohio.”

The other concern with the Ohio River, Taylor-Misele said, is a lack of planning for the future. The stretch of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon is No. 1 on American Rivers’ list because of water scarcity in that region. Scarcity isn’t a problem on the Ohio now, Taylor-Misele said, but industries are moving to the Midwest because of the availability of water.

“If we’re not starting to be smart with how we manage our freshwater resources, we’re going to find ourselves in similar positions to those folks out in the west.” she said.

Taylor-Misele doesn’t see the Ohio River’s future guaranteed as a doomed waterway. She points to the growing connections that communities large and small have with the river in terms of events and recreation. The Ohio River Paddlefest in Cincinnati is considered the nation’s largest paddling celebration, with thousands of canoes and kayaks hitting the water there. Wheeling’s Heritage Port along the Ohio River is the epicenter of many of the region’s celebrations, including the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival and the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta.

She also has noticed one positive that has come in the aftermath of the East Palestine derailment. The quality of the Ohio River have become missions for local and national politicians, who are crossing the aisles to make sure the river is safe.

“I’ve been in politics for 30 years,” Taylor-Misele said. “Most of that period has been pretty tough, especially as things have become more partisan and less congenial. Seeing adults in the room gives me something that I haven’t felt in a long time, and that is hope.

“Seeing (Democratic Ohio Congresswoman) Emilia Sykes and (Republican Ohio Congressman) Bill Johnson work together in Congress, seeing (the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission) work with so many community partners at the Ohio River Basin Alliance, to me, it’s a recognition of what I already knew,” she continued, “which is that the Ohio River is is everything. It’s the lifeblood of the entire community. And it makes me hopeful that it’s going to have a better future.”

Those who live along the Ohio River can play a part as well, Taylor-Misele said. They can make sure that politicians in state and federal government know they have their backs. Those politicians who push hardest, she said, are the ones who feel their constituents are behind them.

It’s also important for residents of Ohio River towns take advantage of the river as a recreation spot.

“It means that we are investing in the river, and that’s better for our drinking water better for our ecosystem,” she said. “And so having a relationship with a river is a pretty small thing that all of us can do to be able to advance the ball here.”