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mad r clot
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E D W A R D J O H N C L E A R Y
1906-1984
BY ALEXANDER H. FLAX
EDWARD JOHN CLEARY formerly one of the major spokes-
men on water pollution control practices in the Uniter! States
and the creator of the ORSANCO Robot Monitor System, a
set of devices that maintains cIay-ancI-night river quality vig-
ilance, diect on March 3i, i984. A dedicated and pleasant
man, Ed Cleary was instrumental in blazing new trails in the
water pollution control arena and cleveloping innovations
that have been approved and implemented on an interna-
tional basis.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, on June ~6,~906, Ed Cleary
began his education by attending public schools. He enterer!
Rutgers University, where he was awarcled a four-year com-
petitive-examination scholarship and a two-year graduate
fellowship. He graduated in ~929 with a B.S. in general en-
gineering. He continued his education at Rutgers, receiving
an M.S. in sanitary engineering in i933 and a Ph.D. in civil
engineering in ~ 935.
During his undergraduate schooling, Cleary worker! as a
fielct engineer on tunnel and power plant construction pro-
jects at the Management and Engineering Corporation in
Chicago (from i929 to i93~' and at Parker and Graham,
Inc., in New York City (from ~93i to ~932~. While attending
graduate school, Cleary worked as a research assistant at
Rutgers University and then as a manager at the William J.
75
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76
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Howe Coal Company in New York City. After completing his
master's degree, he became the executive editor of the Engi-
neering News-Record, a weekly publication of the McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company in New York. From 1937 to 1941 Ecl
Cleary was also a lecturer on public works administration at
New York University's College of Engineering.
In 1949 Dr. Cleary was appointed executive director and
chief engineer of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation
Commission (ORSANCO). In these capacities, he presided
over the administration of the largest regional water pollu-
tion control project ever undertaken. Eight states, in acIdi-
tion to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. De-
partment of the Interior, joined in this water control effort,
which has succeeded in safeguarding the regional water re-
sources of the Ohio River. The successful operation of the
Ohio Valley program involved uniting the water supply
needs of eleven million people ant] thousands of industries
in constructing more than $l billion worth of waste control
facilities. In addition, the Ohio Valley facilities' international
acceptance introduced Cleary's work to the international
arena.
Dr. Cleary lectured on the commission's work in Latin
America, Englancl, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Yu-
goslavia. In Yugoslavia, he also conclucted a seminar for pub-
lic health authorities from twenty European countries. In ad-
dition, he server! as a water control consultant to the Federal
Republic of Germany and worker! with the five-nation Rhine
River Commission. In 1960 he was selected by the Economic
Commission for Europe as a member of an international
team to promote further collaboration in water pollution
control.
At the First International Conference on Water Pollution
Research in September 1962, Dr. Cleary described a unique
electronic water quality monitoring system he had (revised
for the Ohio River. The Robot Monitor System is a unique
combination of control crevices that monitors river quality
clay and night. The system safeguards water supplies for cit-
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EDWARD JOHN CLEARY
77
ies, reports water characteristics to industries, and observes
conditions that may affect recreational use. In addition, it is-
sues accidental discharge alerts, identifies violations of stan-
clarct pollution control laws, and serves to reduce the cost of
water ant! waste management.
In 1963 Edward Cleary took a leave of absence from the
Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission to join the
staff of Resources for the Future as a research associate. For
fifteen months, he worked on a book that became The
ORSANCO Story: Water Quality Management in the Ohio Valley
Under An Interstate Compact; it was published by Resources for
the Future in 1967. This book documented his work at
ORSANCO and fully explained the Robot Monitor System.
In 1965 Cleary was elected to the board of directors of
Resources for the Future. He was the first stab member to
be elected to this position anct served in this capacity until
1967. He then became an honorary director, although he re-
mained both an active participant in water quality research
anct a familiar face at all of the board meetings until his
cleath.
On December 3l, 1971, after twenty-two years of service,
Ec! CIeary retired from the stab of ORSANCO, which he hacl
served as executive director and chief engineer until 1967,
when he relinquished his administrative duties to become a
consultant to the commission. An excerpt from the Ohio
River Valley Water Sanitation Commission Council minutes
of September 15, 1971, reveals how Dr. Cleary's work was
acknowledged at his retirement:
In his long tenure, since 1949, as leader and counselor in the activities
of this Commission he has touched the interests of scores of industrial
leaders, administrators and public officials- local, state and national-
as well as multitudes of citizens in the Ohio River Valley. In so doing
he has earned acclaim and unbounded respect.
After his retirement, Ect Cleary accepted a part-time ap-
pointment to the faculty of the University of Cincinnati in
the Department of Environmental Health.
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78
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
In acictition to lecturing on the practice of environmental
quality management, he served as a consultant to the Na-
tional Water Commission, the International Bank for Recon-
struction and Development, the White House Office on Sci-
ence ant] Technology, the Miami Conservancy District, the
Agency for International Development, the WorIct Health
Organization in Geneva, the Atomic Energy Commission,
and Bechte] Incorporated's Environmental Resources Pro-
iects.
The quality of Edwarc! Cleary's work has been recognized
through the many honors bestowed upon him. He was
elected to membership in Sigma Xi anct Tau Beta Pi. He re-
ceivec3 the Hemispheric Award of the Inter-American Asso-
ciation of Sanitary Engineering (1954), the Emerson Award
of the Water Pollution Control Federation (1963), the Man-
of-the-Year Award of the American Public Works Associa-
tion (1962), two separate Resource Division Awards of the
American Water Works Association (AWWA) (1963, 1971),
the LaDue Citation of the Ohio State Section of AWWA
(1965), and an honorary doctorate of engineering from
Rose-HilIman Institute of Technology (19721.
Cleary was also inducted into prestigious societies. He was
named a member of the National Academy of Engineering
in 1967; he was a ctiplomate in the American Academy of
Environmental Engineers; anti he was a member of the
American Water Resources Association. He served as presi-
ent of the American Public Works Association and vice-
presiclent of the Public Works Historical Society. His honor-
ary memberships incluclec! the American Society of Civil
Engineers, the American Water Works Association, the
Water Pollution Control Federation, the British Institute of
Sewage Purification, and the Engineering Society of Cincin-
nat~.
At the time of Eclwarct Cleary's retirement in 1971, a col-
league at the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
statecl:
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EDWARD JOHN CLEARY
79
We are mindful of the fact the Dr. Cleary has been the recipient of
many awards and praiseworthy messages from scientific organizations,
civic and industrial leaders and, especially, from his fellow engineers.
We believe, however, that the richest rewards and highest praises due
him reside in the silent gratitude in the hearts of the many people
whose well-being has been heightened, in part at least, as a result of
his monumental efforts in connection with the noble task of improving
and preserving the God-given supply of water upon which life de-
pends.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
water pollution
