ASHTABULA - - Contaminated sediment from the Ashtabula River has migrated downstream into a portion of the harbor, requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take more samplings this summer, officials said Monday.
When the corps dredge these sediments from the harbor, it must be contained within a suitable upland disposal facility, such as the landfill constructed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Legacy Act-funded project.
"(The Corps 2005 sampling shows) the top layer of sediment in a portion of the Ashtabula harbor migrated from the river," said Bill Pioli, corps project manager. "It's the same material the EPA is cleaning up now."
An earlier sampling, taken in 2003, showed a low degree of contamination; however, the 2005 sampling showed higher than usual polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contamination, he said.
"Future testing will determine the extent of the contamination (in the harbor)," he said. "It will also pin down the scope and expense of the cleanup."
For the past decade, the corps have been working with other agencies to eliminate contamination in the Great Lakes area. The main contaminants are PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals.
Dredging to resume in a week or two
By SHELLEY TERRY
Staff Writer
sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA - - The dredging of the Ashtabula River will resume in a week or two, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and Ashtabula River Partnership said Monday.
The goal of the project is to help Lake Erie by restoring some of Ohio's most polluted rivers, said Phillippa Cannon, EPA spokesman.
The $50 million cleanup is being paid for by the Great Lakes Legacy Act, the Ashtabula Port Authority and it's partners. By the end of the year, more than 500,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment will be removed from the Ashtabula River.
The dredging began in September and continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week through early December, thanks to unseasonably warm weather. Along with polluted mud, dredge operators dug up trees, stumps, bicycle wheels and several cowhides from the river bottom, said Rick Brewer of the River Partnership.
Improvements were made to the water treatment system to enable it to treat more water, and changes were made to the dredging system and pipeline to enable them to handle debris in the sediment better.
"The Ashtabula River project is the largest so far under the Legacy Act," Cannon said.
While previous Legacy Act cleanups have addressed contaminated "hot spots," this project seeks to address contaminated sediment comprehensively within an entire "area of concern" on the Great Lakes, Elise Speizman, a U.S. EPA director of public affairs, has said.
The Ashtabula River area of concern comprises the lower 2 1/2 miles of the river and near-shore areas of Lake Erie.
Areas of concern are severely degraded sites within the Great Lakes in which there is significant pollution. Polluted sediment is one major reason many Great Lakes fish are not safe to eat in great quantities.
