"Detroit River: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly"

"DETROIT — To many Toledoans, the Detroit River is just another waterway on a map.

But maps don’t reveal much about a river, nor do they explain how Detroit’s industrial legacy played a key role in defending America’s freedom during World War II.

The Detroit River’s story today begins with the struggle for environmental justice in the southwest Detroit enclave of Delray, where Dolores Leonard, a 79-year-old retired community college professor, remembers growing up under a haze of what she called their 'red sky.'

'We thought that was normal,' Ms. Leonard said of an era in which tarps were used to shield automobiles from corrosive air pollution."

Tom Henry reports for the Toledo Blade November 17, 2014.