Symbol of Pollution. The careless discards and feverish washings of 13 millions people have transformed Lake Erie, a once pristine body of water, into the symbol of pollution, the cause celebre of nouveau ecologists. For decades the cities and plants along the shore and rivers draining into the lake have dumped sewage into the waters without care. But the first expensive steps to clean up the lake have been taken and it could be well on its way to normalcy in another six years.