Comments Welcome on Cleveland Harbor Dredging Project
On Jan. 10, the Ohio EPA will be holding a public meeting in regards to the upcoming Cleveland Harbor Dredging Project, which takes place in the Cuyahoga River. The public hearing will begin at 5:30 that evening, inside the Carnegie West Branch of the Cleveland Public Library.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has submitted to conduct maintenance dredging of 675,000 cubic yards of material in Cleveland Harbor, specifically at the Cuyahoga River federal navigation channel. Because of this application, the Ohio EPA will be holding a public meeting in order to accept comments and concerns some may have in regards to the application.
According to the application, the dredged material will be disposed of at confined disposal facilities located at the Burke Lakefront Airport. The EPA will also be searching for alternative plans with less or no environmental impact; EPA’s review is conducted in order to determine if the project will comply with Ohio’s water quality standards.
The proposed project could result in a change from current water quality conditions of Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River, but the EPA needs to make sure that the state’s water quality standards are upheld in order to protect human health and the environment.
Comments on the application will be allowed at the hearing or can be submitted in writing to Ohio EPA, Division of Surface Water, attn: Permits Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049 or emailed to dswcomments@epa.state.oh.us. The public comment period ends on Jan. 17.