EPA: Black River qualities looking better for 2021

It’s official: The Black River is looking better for 2021.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged Lorain County’s main waterway is recovering from the era when erosion, trash and chemicals made it an unsightly mess.

This month, the federal agency announced the development as a historic moment.

It was the 100th time the EPA formally recognized environmental improvement along the 43

most degraded waterways, known as areas of concern, around the Great Lakes.

“Ohio has worked hard for many years to improve the Black River Area of Concern. State, federal and local efforts have led to today’s removal of the beneficial use impairment for aesthetics,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in the Jan. 14 announcement. “Clean and safe water for Ohio is one of the greatest investments for the state.”

BUIs

DeWine referred to the beneficial use impairment, or BUI, the technical phrase for “a change in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant environmental degradation,” according to the federal EPA.

The environmental regulators use 14 beneficial use impairments as criteria to measure the ecological health of the waterways.

Examples include restrictions on fish consumption, fish tumors or other deformities and beach closures.

At the Black River Area of Concern, the EPA removed the “degradation of aesthetics” beneficial use impairment that was caused by environmental issues dating back decades.

Those issues included upland erosion, mill dams, stream channelization

and modifications, litter and trash dumping, and oil and grease deposition.

With the removal of the beneficial use impairment, other federal, state and municipal programs now in place will address any future sources of oil or grease and litter or trash, according to the federal agency.

Partnerships working

The improvement happens due to work among the EPA, the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and successful partnerships with federal, state, tribal, local and non governmental entities, said EPA Region 5 Administrator and Great Lakes National Program Manager Kurt Thiede.

“By continuing to work together, we have been able to overcome some of the challenges facing the Great Lakes, and I know the pride our folks here take in these efforts will ensure continued success in addressing these challenges in the years ahead,” Thiede said.

The Black River Area of Concern Advisory Committee is the local group that assists with creating ecological restoration projects and requests for money to pay for them.

It has representatives from various government agencies, along with local residents, working with the Lorain County Kayak & Paddle Sports Group.

“The removal of this impairment from the Black River (Area of Concern) is significant to the health of our river and community,”

said Max Schaefer, vice chairman of the advisory committee, who also is Northeast Ohio regional director of the Ohio Environmental Council. “The Black River is one of our community’s most important resources, and we couldn’t do this work without the help of our community partners and support of local, state and federal government.

“Additionally, our focus on a clean Black River couldn’t be accomplished without our utilization of (Great Lakes Restoration Initiative) funding; these funds not only allows us to complete the projects necessary to restore the health of the Black River, but they also have positive economic impacts on our communities.”

The city of Lorain and Coldwater Consulting LLC have overseen environmental restoration projects paid for with millions of dollars in federal grants.

“Another project Lorain can be proud of,” said Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley. “It is wonderful for our city and our city workers to get national recognition while improving the environment and our natural resources.”

Legislators respond

Federal lawmakers representing Lorain County agreed the declaration was good news for the Black River.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, cited the importance of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the cooperation at the local, state and federal levels.

Former President Donald Trump authorized the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act for the next five years, Portman said.

“This successful public-private partnership has helped address the greatest threats to the Great Lakes, including harmful algal blooms, invasive species, pollution and contamination,” Portman said. “With more than 10 million people depending on Lake Erie for their drinking water and hundreds of thousands of Ohioans depending upon the lake for jobs, we must continue our bipartisan work to protect our Great Lakes for the economic and environmental well-being of our region.

“The removal of this beneficial use impairment signifies the important progress that has been made in our efforts to clean up the Black River Watershed.”

Kaptur’s Ninth House District includes the city of Lorain and coastal Lorain County.

“The removal of this impairment at the Black River (Area of Concern) is a celebration of what perseverance and hard work can accomplish,” Kaptur said. “The GLRI is an invaluable resource for restoring the Black River.

“As we continue to remove (beneficial use impairments), cities around the Great Lakes, like Lorain, will continue to see the ecological benefits of a healthy environment and the economic benefits from an accessible, healthy waterfront.”

Making progress

Only 10 beneficial use impairments were removed from the 1980s until the start of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2010.

Since then, EPA and its many partners accelerated progress being made at Area of Concerns and removed an additional 90 beneficial use impairments at 24 different U.S. Area of Concerns across the Great Lakes, according to the federal agency.

“These (beneficial use impairment) removals are critically important steps towards ultimately delisting the remaining (Area of Concerns) and promoting economic revitalization in the communities where the (Area of Concerns) are located,” an EPA statement said.

Under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan III, the Environmental Protection Agency has set a goal of removing a cumulative total of 101 beneficial use impairments by the end of September 2021.

The EPA is on target to exceed that goal.

There are 155 beneficial use impairments that still need to be removed from the 26 remaining U.S. areas of concern.

Of the original 31 U.S. areas of concerns, five have been “delisted” or successfully cleaned up, including the Lower Menominee River Area of Concern on the Michigan and Wisconsin border, which was delisted in the summer of 2020.