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State Representative Jim Buchy
Dredging in
Lake Erie is a Growing Topic of Conversation in Government
Of the five great lakes, Lake Erie is the shallowest. As a result, a
large portion of the dredging that happens in the Great Lakes takes
place in Lake Erie, our great lake in Ohio. Water quality in Lake Erie
has been a major topic throughout this General Assembly, and I expect
interest to grow in the coming years.
In Ohio, the number one channel that is being dredged runs from the
Maumee River to about twenty miles into the lake. Each year dredgers
cut a groove into the lake floor that will allow sea-going-vessels and
other large vessels confined to the Great Lakes to dock in Toledo,
bringing new commerce to our state and the Toledo-area. Similar
dredging takes places in the Cuyahoga River, which is naturally deeper
and as a result less labor intensive. However, PCBs from older
industries line the floor of the river in portions, making the handling
of the dredging material there cumbersome.
Dredging in the great lakes is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers,
and is subject to careful oversight by both the United States
Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency. The sheer amount of dredging needed to keep the Maumee
River and the federal navigational channel fully functional in order to
handle high-volume port activity is an enormous challenge. Contaminated
material is typically disposed of in a confined disposal facility,
which is quickly filing up. This has launched a debate between state
and federal authorities regarding what to do with the material.
The state is doing its part to handle the material in an
environmentally sound manner, but the federal government is employing a
less desirable disposal method as a means of cost savings: open lake
dumping. As a taxpayer and public servant, I respect the Army Corps of
Engineers efforts to save tax dollars, but dumping this nutrient-rich
material in Lake Erie goes against my conscious. Much of the
natural material that is dredged could be sold at garden stores or as
soil, instead of promoting algae growth in the lake.
We are seeing some environmentally-friendly solutions come about,
albeit with a higher cost. A pilot project screening the material and
removing it from the water before it gets to areas with PCBs is
underway in the Cuyahoga River, and in Toledo the EPA is leading a
project where dredged material is pumped onto the land to show its
value in agriculture.
As Ohioans, we should pay attention to this issue. It will inevitably
become more pressing over the next several years. We will ultimately
have a solution when we can better utilize the dredged material, which
will pay for the increased costs of removing it from the rivers and the
lake. The outcome of the dredging issues in Lake Erie will most
likely impact our agricultural markets which rely on the export of
grain through the Port of Toledo.
With Memorial Day on Monday, this is the best time to remember the
sacrifice of those who lost their lives to keep this country free for
239 years. This weekend be safe and thank those who stood by our
fallen veterans for their service and willingness to defend our nation.
Please give me your opinion on this topic and others in the news this
month by completing an online survey at tinyurl.com/buchymay2015
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