A couple of news items

As thousands of people prepare to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, The Courier-Journal of Louisville notes that the Ohio River is much cleaner than it was 40 years ago. The article notes that the easy sources of pollution -- those coming from a single point -- have been addressed, but the nonpoint sources are the major contributors now. Those include runoff from farms and pharmaceuticals that get flushed down the toilet and not removed by sewage treatment systems.

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And construction on the hydroelectric power plant on the Kentucky side of the Meldahl Locks and Dam above Cincinnati is expected to begin on May 1, according to The Hamilton (Ohio) Journal-News.

Construction could take 3 1/2 years.

 

Condolences

My condolences to the family of David K. Smith. His brother, Greg, was the pilot of the Misty Dawn. Greg drowned when the boat  sank in the Kanawha River earlier this week.

From the archives 4: the Becky Thatcher

A few weeks ago, when the Becky Thatcher sank at or near Pittsburgh, I had it in my head that I had seen the boat being towed down the Ohio River just below the Gallipolis Locks and Dam, probably around 1984, when I bought my Nikon FM2 camera. The other morning, I found those pictures.

This first one is of the Becky itself, in a drydock being pushed down the river by the mv. Charleston, which is out of the photo to the left, or a boat of similar design. The second photo shows the entire tow. I do not know the name of the smaller boat. Where it was going and what was to be done to it, I did not check, so I do not know.

Four archive entries down, two to go.

(Reminder: All photos on this blog, except as otherwise noted, are copyrighted by me, Jim Ross, and are not to be downloaded, used or reproduced without my written permission.)