Don't Drink the Water In Lake Erie

'Lake Erie' never caught fire .

What caught fire (numerous times - as early as 1868, with the worst fire being in 1952) was a section of the Cuyahoga River before it empties into lake Erie.

The river has since been cleaned up; most of it is actually quite pretty and great for canoeing and kayaking.

Still - it's fun to tease my brother-in-law in Cleveland about their rivers catching fire.

And just for fun, Great Lakes Brewing Co in Cleveland named one of their signature beers 'Burning River Pale Ale', and it has won numerous awards over the years.

"Burning River Pale Ale"???

WOW!! Just what is the alcohol content in that stuff?? Sounds pretty good!

All joking aside, you are absolutely correct on that. As someone who's spent all my life living less than 100 miles north of Erie, I can also tell you it's far nicer now than when I was a boy. Despite the headline of the article, the link clearly points out that the source of the crisis is inland and coming down the river- in reality, Lake Erie is attenuating the effect of this nutrient spike and the associated algae bloom as one moves farther away from the input point. But "Don't drink the water in southwestern Lake Erie near Toledo" sounds much more like something any sane parent would tell their children anyways! Shoot, that means we don't get to see Niagara Falls turning into the creature from the green lagoon.

Seems to me they've gotten bit by the old adage "Don't excrete solidified digestive waste where you sleep"- or a least a variation thereof. On top of that add politics and everything else- good luck. Maybe they should just mix a few barge loads of ferric chloride into the river.