Erie won’t get Cleveland’s dredged silt

TOLEDO — A decision preventing sediment dredged out of Cleveland’s harbor from being dumped into Lake Erie has satisfied those worried about it fouling fish and drinking water.

The shift in plans won’t end the debate over what to do with tons of silt scooped out of northern Ohio’s bays and rivers so that cargo boats can navigate the waters.

That’s because storage sites for the sediment are filling up, and building more such sites might be too costly. There’s also growing pressure to come up with other ways to dispose of the sludge, much of which is dumped into the lake after being dredged.

Environmental groups, state regulators and political leaders have been trying to stop the dumping of sediment into Lake Erie since the 1980s. But the Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the shipping channels, has resisted, saying it’s safe and much cheaper to put it in the lake.

Although it’s not clear that the practice of dredging and dumping in the lake is contributing to an increase in algae growth over the past few years, many environmental groups suspect a connection.

Adding to the scrutiny of the issue was the Army Corps’ proposal to begin taking dredged sediment from the Cuyahoga River and Cleveland harbor and disposing of it offshore this year.

The agency argued that the sediment is now safe enough to meet federal guidelines for “open-lake placement,” but the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency objected, citing concern about increasing toxicity in fish such as walleye and perch.

The Army Corps backed off the idea in April, saying it will continue to put the sediment in a contained disposal facility.

At the same time, the federal agency will continue to dump sediment from Toledo’s harbor and others in northern Ohio into the lake.

Sandy Bihn, director of the Toledo-based advocacy group Lake Erie Waterkeeper, said she expects that the sediment from Cleveland eventually will end up in the lake, too, because the Army Corps is mandated to find the cheapest method for disposal.

“It’s all about money,” Bihn said.

This spring, state legislators approved spending $10 million to research alternative uses for the silt. Potential options include creating wetlands, putting it on farm fields or mixing it with soil to make compost.

Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council said open-lake dumping has been banned or reduced in other Great Lakes states because of the potential threat to the environment and water.

“We need to figure out another way,” said Meyer, who is the council’s director of agricultural, health and cleanwater programs.