San Francisco Baykeeper<p>A reminder of what the Bay looked like before environmental regulation—open dumping of industrial waste, raw sewage, and fuel, and constant oil spills. </p><p>Before EPA and laws like the Clean Water Act, America's waters were choked with pollution. Ohio's Cuyahoga River, which became a symbol of environmental degradation in the 60s, was so polluted that it repeatedly caught fire.</p><p>Today, it's estimated that the <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/CleanWaterAct" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CleanWaterAct</span></a> alone prevents 700 *billion* pounds of toxic pollution from entering US waters every single year. </p><p>We MUST defend these vital laws and institutions.</p><p><a href="https://sfba.social/tags/EPA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EPA</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/bayarea" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>bayarea</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sanfranciscobay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sanfranciscobay</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/SFBay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SFBay</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>environment</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/waterpollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>waterpollution</span></a></p><p>Photos courtesy of EPA's historic archive</p>