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Ashtabula River on the Road to Recovery The Ashtabula River possesses qualities that are rare in Ohio; a natural river channel and an intact riparian forest buffer zone. These attributes have resulted in the Ashtabula River being studied by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for potential inclusion into the Ohio Scenic Rivers Program.
Aerial view of the Ashtabula River, Ohio “Ashtabula” comes from an Algonquin Indian term originally pronounced “Hush-tab-buh-lah” which means "river of many fish." From its headwaters, the river then flows through a deep gorge with wooded slopes and flood plains. The natural river channel and wooded riparian zone provide stability for the river and important habitat for many fish, invertebrate, bird, amphibian, reptile and mammal species. The river is currently home to 76 species of fish, including ten that are endangered, species of concern, or in decline elsewhere. Ironically, while much of the river is pristine and still in its intact natural state, the lowest one- and-one-half miles of the Ashtabula River is among the most polluted bodies of water on the Great Lakes. Since construction of the first Federal navigation improvements in 1826, the harbor and its transportation facilities have been principle features of the city. The port is favorably located to receive iron ore from the Upper Great Lakes, bound for Youngstown, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and to ship coal from fields in Ohio and Pennsylvania to upper lakes ports. In the early 1900’s, shipments consistently exceeded 10 million tons annually, twice reaching 18 million tons. Current shipments average about 10 million tons. Coincident with industrial growth during the 1940s through the late 1970s, unregulated discharges of wastes caused the river's sediments to become heavily contaminated. In the early 1960’s, long before passage of the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, it was recognized that the sediments dredged from the river were unsuitable for disposal in the open waters of Lake Erie. Major pollutants present in the river sediments include mercury, chromium, lead, zinc, and numerous chlorinated organic compounds, particularly polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and low level radionuclides. From the early 1970’s through the mid 1990’s, efforts to identify suitable sites for disposal of the sediments dredged from the river were unsuccessful. Because of this, much of the river has not been dredged since 1962. This lack of maintenance significantly impacted navigation, forcing closure of both commercial and recreational facilities, to the detriment of the local and regional economy. Due to the severely limited depths presently found in the river upstream of the 5th Street Bridge, less than 50% of the 1300 slips available for recreational vessels in 2005 were accessible. Operators of personal watercraft such as jet skis who may be unfamiliar with the local conditions, have run aground in the center of the Federal navigation channel where the authorized channel depth was 18 feet. In 1983, the lower two miles of the Ashtabula River was designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern or AOC. The United States and Canadian governments have identified 43 AOCs: 26 in United States waters, 17 in Canadian waters (five are shared between the United States and Canada on connecting river systems). AOCs are severely degraded areas (as defined by the United States-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ) “that fail to meet the general or specific objectives of the agreement where such failure has caused or is likely to cause impairment of beneficial use of the area's ability to support aquatic life." Of the 14 “beneficial uses,” the Ashtabula River carries the following 6 impairments: restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption; degradation of fish and wildlife populations; fish tumors or other deformities; degradation of benthos; restriction on dredging activities; and loss of fish and wildlife habitat. In 1994, representatives of local government, state and Federal agencies, parties potentially responsible for remediation of the contaminants, local business, recreational groups, and other representatives of the community pledged their commitment to developing a plan for remediation of the Ashtabula River, and began working cooperatively under the charter of the Ashtabula River Partnership. The central objective of the Partnership was development and implementation of an environmentally sound and efficient plan for remediation of the river. Under the lead of the Partnership, the Buffalo District US Army Corps of Engineers guided the completion of a feasibility study, and subsequent engineering and design of a plan for removal and disposal of nearly 700,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the river. When complete, the project will remove an estimated 25,000 pounds of PCBs and other contaminants from the bottom of the river. On December 14, 2005, the US EPA announced their agreement with a group of area industries, the State of Ohio, and the Ashtabula Port Authority, to jointly fund the execution of the major portion of the plan under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. The Act, signed into law in 2002, provides funding for the implementation of plans for remediation of contaminated sediment in Areas of Concern located wholly or partially in the United States, The remaining portion of the plan would be funded under existing authorities for maintenance of the navigation channel by the US Army Corps of Engineers. |
BG Bruce Berwick looks on as Congressman June 5, 2006 was a bright day in Ashtabula, in more than one sense. Dignitaries gathered for a groundbreaking, to celebrate the dawn of a new age for the river, and herald the ceremonial start of the long awaited project. Ongoing construction of the Federally- licensed facility to contain the dredged sediments formed the backdrop for the ceremony. Among those on hand were: US EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson; then Ohio Governor Bob Taft; Congressman Steven LaTourette; Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Commander BG Bruce Berwick; Ohio EPA Director Joe Koncelik, Ashtabula City Manager Anthony Cantagalo, and Fred Leitert Co-Chair of the Ashtabula River Partnership Coordination Committee. Stephen Johnson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, led the dignitaries praising the project and the partnerships that made it happen. Congressman LaTourette passed his congratulations to the members of the Ashtabula River Partnership. Governor Taft noted that, without the partner’s perseverance, no one would be here today. Ashtabula City Manager Anthony Cantagallo, who spent many years away from the area, looked forward to seeing the river restored to its former glory. USACE’s project encompasses 1,900 linear feet of channel in the lower river used by deep draft commercial navigation. With contaminant sources under control, once the one-time removal and disposal of the existing contaminated sediments is completed, future dredged sediments can be expected to be suitable for open lake disposal, at considerable savings in cost. The channel dredging is expected to be completed by August of 2008. When all is said and done, it is hoped that the Ashtabula will again be the river of many fish, and no longer suffer the stigma of listing as an area of concern. In a recent speech before the Great Lakes Commission, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, John Paul Woodley, Jr., cited the Ashtabula River as an example of collaboration between federal agencies and non-federal partners that benefits the Great Lakes. Mr. Woodley also stated his intent to come back to Ashtabula this summer for the ceremony marking the completion of this collaborative project. As Winston Churchill said after a critical British victory in World War II: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." NEWS YOU CAN USE Lake Ontario Ordnance Works
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