A Massachusetts mother helped save one of America's dirtiest rivers

In 1962, Marion Stoddart moved to Groton, Massachusetts, near the Nashua River, one of the ten most polluted rivers in the U.S., and led a grassroots campaign to restore it.

Stoddart founded the Nashua River Clean-up Committee, gathered over 6,000 signatures, and presented them with a jar of polluted water to Massachusetts Governor John Volpe.

The Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, enacted in 1966, was one of the first state-level anti-water pollution laws, with Stoddart's advocacy contributing to its passage.

The Nashua River restoration effort now protects 174 miles of waterway, supported by the Nashua River Watershed Association that Stoddart founded.