The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued certification allowing maintenance dredging of the Fairport Harbor federal navigation channel in the central basin of Lake Erie and the navigable channel of the Grand River.
The project will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge 250,000 cubic yards of sediment from Fairport Harbor in 8,300 feet of the Grand River to maintain sufficient water depth for commercial navigation.
Sixty thousand cubic yards will be placed in the near shore area to provide beach nourishment; the rest will be placed in the open water of Lake Erie.
The water quality certification complies with Governor Kasich’s executive order, signed on Feb. 11, 2015, which requires Ohio EPA to prohibit the open lake disposal of dredge material in Lake Erie if the dredge material could result in higher levels of a chemical in fish that bioaccumulate throughout the food chain, or the disposal of dredge material would violate any international treaties or compacts.
These requirements are part of the state’s Coastal Management Program, which is enforced through the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.
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