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News Brief: Ashtabula River Cleanup Complete

Release Date: 08/28/2008
Contact Information: Phillippa Cannon, (312) 353-6218, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 08 -OPA134

(Chicago, Ill. - Aug. 28, 2008) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Regional Administrator Lynn Buhl joined Ohio's Sen. George Voinovich and Rep. Steve LaTourette, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Ashtabula River Partnership and state and local officials on Aug. 26 to celebrate the end of one of the biggest river cleanups on the Great Lakes resulting in a cleaner, deeper Ashtabula River.

The Ashtabula River Partnership hosted a celebration at the Ashtabula Yacht Club to recognize the successful removal of nearly 630,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the river. The sediment contained a variety of chemicals including PCBs, heavy metals and uranium, radium and thorium. Dredging began in September 2006 and ended this June.

EPA -- using Great Lakes Legacy Act funds -- with Ohio EPA and the Ashtabula River Cooperation Group II funded the $60 million removal of sediment from the river between the Turning Basin at the mouth of Fields Brook and the Fifth Street Bridge. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the dredging north of the Fifth Street lift bridge to Lake Erie at a cost of $15 million.

More information about the Ashtabula River dredging project and the Great Lakes Legacy Act is available at http://epa.gov/glla/ashtabula.