SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - The public is invited to a free presentation about the Schuylkill River on Wednesday at Penn State Schuylkill.
The event, scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m., will be held in the Morgan Auditorium and will feature author Chari Towne, who will speak about the river and the history of its cleanup.
Towne's presentation is expected to last about an hour.
Towne is a Schuylkill Watershed specialist with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an organization focused on providing for the Delaware River Watershed.
Towne said she has a connection to the Schuylkill River, having trained for rowing on it.
Originally from Wisconsin, she said the talk is a "way to give back to the river" that has a special place in her life.
Towne's book, "A River Again: The Story of the Schuylkill River Project," tells about the cleanup effort to save the river, which was considered one of the dirtiest in the nation.
Published in 2012 by Delaware Riverkeeper Network Press, the 238-page book goes into detail about the restoration of the river.
Towne said coal sediment had filled the river over the years. In the late 1940s, the Schuylkill River Project started. It took years to complete.
"Not so long ago, the Schuylkill was considered this country's dirtiest river. But there is more to the story than the cleanup of a polluted river. Other rivers once regarded as polluted are now also driving revitalization of communities. The Schuylkill's story is important not only because the river fell so far, but also because its cleanup came before all others. The concept of restoring a river was born on the Schuylkill River. The pollution of the Schuylkill was among the worst in the county, and its redemption offers lessons for how we interact with our rivers today," according to the book.
The Schuylkill River was named the 2014 River of the Year, also having received the distinction in 1999.
Towne will sign books after the event. The book costs $21.95 and is available as a free download online at delawareriverkeeper.org.
People are asked to register for the event at ariveragain.eventbrite.com.