All of the information below was taken from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency web page for its Dredged Material Program —
If you live or work along Ohio’s northern border, aka Lake Erie, particularly near one of Ohio’s 8 ports, then you may be aware of the need to regularly dredge our shipping channels and the controversy that has been brewing with regard to what is done with the dredged material. Currently, some or all of the dredged material, depending on where along the lakeshore the dredging occurs, is dumped in the open lake. By July 2020, the State of Ohio will no longer permit disposal of dredged material in the open waters of Lake Erie.
The Ohio EPA and others are scrambling to look for cost effective solutions for the material that is dredged, much, if not most, of which is suitable for reuse. Here are a few FAQs that are published on the Ohio EPA’s web site:
What is dredged material?
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