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Ashtabula River
Dredging Project Nearly Completed June 24, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ASHTABULA, OH – The Ashtabula River dredging
project is nearing completion, making the river one of the cleanest, deepest
harbors in Lake Erie. The $75 million project, started in June 2006, moved
635,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment to a nearby landfill, which will
be capped by the end of the year. “A lot of people worked very long and very hard to see
the dredging completed,” said Ohio Sea Grant Extension’s Frank
Lichtkoppler. “It was all the Ashtabula River Partnership members working
together that made this happen. Ohio Sea Grant was one of the founding partners
of the Ashtabula River Partnership.” “We are now working on restoring the environment and
hope to have the Ashtabula River taken off the IJC list of contaminated Areas
of Concern in the Great Lakes in the next few years,” he continued. Having the deep draft available will allow for increased
shipping opportunities, and a cleaner river should help provide new
opportunities for local marinas and businesses. Ohio Sea Grant is also developing an economic baseline to
measure the economic activity that may result from the Ashtabula River
dredging. Prior to the project, Ohio Sea Grant collected economic data on local
boaters, marinas and small businesses in the harbor area. This will allow a
comparison in a few years when the river is fully restored. Ohio Sea Grant Extension is part of Ohio State University
Extension and the Ohio Sea Grant College Program, one of 32 NOAA Sea Grant
programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great
Lakes resources. For more information, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu. ### Contact: Frank Lichtkoppler, Ohio Sea Grant Extension: 440/350-2582,
lichtkoppler.1@osu.edu Dr. Jeffrey M. Reutter, Director, Ohio Sea Grant:
614/292-8949, reutter.1@osu.edu --Stacy Brannan Associate Editor Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab The Ohio State University brannan.16@osu.edu 614-292-8949 |