Ohio law at the time gave state regulators supremacy over water pollution enforcement, and since the factories and mills along the river had received discharge permits from the state, no matter how weak they were, the city maintained it was powerless to force those businesses to change their polluting ways. The state, meanwhile, threatened “drastic enforcement measures” against the city of Cleveland, absurdly claiming the fire was fueled by oily runoff from city streets and leaky sewers.
