I have watched the Detroit River change from one of the most beautiful rivers in the State of Mich. to the filthiest river in these United States, with the exception of the River Rouge, Dahlka said in prepared testimony. Also swimming in these waters is a thing of the past. Public outrage mounted when, in the winter of 1948, pollution killed off large numbers of waterfowl in a widely-publicized incident on the Detroit River. In its report on the matter, the Department of Conservation called the incident a catastrophe caused by a combination of harsh winter conditions that left little open water for the ducks and terrible water pollution. Miles of busy factories representing one of the world s most concentrated industrial areas, making automobiles, steel, chemicals, etc., line the west bank of the river and its tributaries.
Industrial wastes find their way into the river.
One of the worst of these wastes is oil of various types. In mid-January 1948 a thick flow of oil coiled along the west side of the river, coating several thousand ducks. Some of them died quickly, the insulation of their feathers broken down by the oil. Others were easy prey for crows, gulls and eagles, and dozens of freshly picked skeletons were mute evidence of the magnitude of the tragedy. So, we should not regard the loss of several thousand ducks in recent weeks as having been without some gain.