Corps of Engineers Relents, Will Dredge Cleveland Ship Channel

James F. McCarty reports in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on October 3, 2016:

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced late Monday that it would dredge the upper reaches of the Cuyahoga River shipping channel where sediment has been piling up, forcing cargo ships to "light load" during deliveries to the ArcelorMittal steel mill.

The Army Corps ended its year-long refusal to dredge on the condition that, if the agency prevails in a federal court lawsuit, Ohio would reimburse the Corps for the additional costs required to dump the sediment into Dike 10, a confined disposal facility on the Lake Erie shoreline near Burke Lakefront Airport.

The Army Corps has maintained the sediment is nontoxic and safe enough for open lake disposal. But the Ohio EPA disagreed and blocked that action, maintaining that the sediment is too polluted with PCBs.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/10/us_army_corps_of_engineers_agr.html 

ArcelorMittal Steel - Cleveland

OCTOBER 16, 2016 UPDATE: Following court proceedings, the Corp of Engineers has awarded a $3.7 million contract to dredge the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland. It is anticipated that dredging will start soon.

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2016/10/13/army-corps-awards-contract-cuyahoga-dredging-to-begin-soon

Army Corps: Dirty Tricks, Dirty Water

Editorial Excoriates Army Corps of Engineers for Dredging Deceit

Excerpts:

Apparently, there is no limit to the depths that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will sink in its persistent push to poison Cleveland harbor via the open-lake dumping of toxic Cuyahoga River dredge.

Its latest ploy involves the once unthinkable for a federal agency: It has cut its own budget to ensure it will not have enough money for proper dredging and disposal.

Last year, a federal judge had to step in to force the Corps to spend the full appropriated amount to complete proper dredging and disposal.

In December, Corps officials contacted the professional staffs of the House and Senate appropriation committees and said the agency didn't need the full $9.54 million for Cleveland harbor, according to Dino Disanto, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce…

Thanks to the Corps' sleazy backdoor maneuver, this year's total Cleveland harbor appropriation is far less than what's needed for river dredging and proper disposal.

(Editorial Board, January 24, 2016, updated February 01, 2016)

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/01/us_army_corps_sinks_to_new_low_in_cuyahoga_river_dredge_deception_editorial.html

Makes you wonder how forthcoming the Corps has been about open lake dumping in western Lake Erie off Toledo.