River Rouge

Ford became a leading manufacturer in the teens of the 20th century. He paid his workers well and was able to lower the price of his cars, from 850 in 1908 to 260 by 1925. By that year two million Models Ts had been sold and he built a new factory at River Rouge. 

Ford closed his River Rouge plant for a few months and developed his more stylish Model A, but his lead over his competitors was never again as great. From the late 1920s on Ford cars would be restyled on a regular basis like General Motors and Chrysler vehicles. 

With 34,200 acres (13,840 ha) (or 53.4 mi or 138.3 km ) in motor vehicle plants constructed since World War II, the U.S. represents both the oldest and the newest in factories. In Michigan, the state with the most land in auto production (6,784 acres/2,746 ha a larger total than all the assembly facilities in France), one can still view Ford s old Piquette garage, the Highland Park plant where the assembly line was perfected, the huge and almost paranoid concentration at the River Rouge facility, as well as the new Ford/Mazda Auto-Alliance plant, where the newest of U.S. and Japanese technologies are intertwined (Rubenstein, 2001 Chapters 1 and 6). 

On August 19, 1973, a barge carrying three tanks of trichloromethane (chloroform) was damaged on the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Neely et al. 1976). Two tanks containing a total of 7.8 x 105 kg of chloroform were damaged and their contents spilled to the river. 

To summarize, the chloroform concentration in the Mississippi River from the accident at Baton Rouge was controlled by the following processes (ranged according to their importance) ... 

Russell, R.J. (1936) Physiography of the lower Mississippi River delta In Reports on the Geology of Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes (Geol. Bull. 8), pp. 1-199, Louisiana Dept, of Conservation, Baton Rouge, LA. 

Two species of buffalo fish, smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) and bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus), were collected from a contaminated (multiple metals and organic chemicals) Mississippi River Basin ecosystem, DS, and a control site, Tunica Swamp, both near Baton Rouge, LA [17], The buffalo fish... 

Word has it that the only thing dirtier in Louisiana than the Mississippi River is its politicians. Whatever your opinion, Baton Rouge, named after the blood-stained stakes that native inhabitants would use to mark their territory, certainly has a colorful history. Find out more at the Baton Rouge Visitor Information Center at the State Capitol. 

North America Gulf coast petrochemical complex in Houston area (U.S.A.) and Chemical complex In the Baton Rouge-New Orleans Mississippi River Corridor (U.S.A.) Largest petrochemical complex in the world, supplying nearly two-thirds of the nation s petrochemical needs... 

Peterson, R.W. Giants on the River Homesite Company Baton Rouge, LA, 1999. 

Coleman, J.M. 1975. Subaqueous Mass Movement of Mississippi River Delta Sediments and Adjacent Continental Shelf and Upper Continental Slope. Coastal Studies Institute Files, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. 

Milwaukee Harbor Rouge River Maumee River Rochester Embayment Hamilton Harbor... 

One example of habitat restoration in an Area of Concern is the Southfield, Michigan, fish habitat improvement project on the Rouge River (Walker 1988). This project was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of simple stream improvement structures on fish habitat in polluted urban streams. 

The project began with a feasibility study of the Rouge River in 1986. Results showed major differences in the aquatic insect and fish populations in different stretches of the stream. It was concluded that these differences were due to physical differences in the habitat rather than the chemical quality of the water (Walker 1988). As a result, six triangular current deflectors or wing dams were constructed in 1987 and 1988 (Figure 2) which were built with broken concrete and stone to direct the current against the banks which had already been riprapped with similar materials. Those actions resulted in decreased bank erosion, increased current speed, and provided deeper pools in other areas. In... 

Figure 2. A schematic diagram of fishery habitat improvements undertaken in the Rouge River, Michigan.

Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) (1988) Remedial action plan for the Rouge River basin. Vol. 1 Executive Summary. Detroit, Michigan, 168 pp. 

Walker B (1988) Rouge River revival. Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation—Habitat News, Spring 1-2. 

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