Given the passage of Ohio Senate Bill 1 earlier this year, finding solutions for keeping Ohio’s northern shipping channels open has taken on new urgency. As stated in previous blog articles, the Army Corps of Engineers handles the dredging of shipping channels but will only pay for the most cost effective options, which is dumping the dredged materials in deeper waters in the Great Lakes or putting dredged material into a diked disposal site. If a state requires the Army Corps of Engineers to dump the dredged material in a way that increases the cost, then that state is responsible for payment of the additional costs.
Beginning July 1, 2020, dredged material can no longer be dumped in Lake Erie. The state of Ohio is seeking creative solutions for handling dredged material that will provide for cost effective solutions to its disposal, including the reuse of much of the dredged materials.
Click here for more info about the goals and objectives of Ohio’s Dredged Material Program.
Below are links to additional resources provided by the Ohio EPA related to Ohio’s Dredged Material Program:
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Ohio River Division
- Toledo Harbor Project, Ohio Lake Erie Commission
- Senate Bill 1 Text and Analysis
- Ohio Clean Lakes Initiative
- Great Lakes Dredging Team
- Soil Erosion and Dredging, Great Lakes Commission
- Dredging in the Great Lakes Region Great Lakes Information Network