USACE to Continue Dredging Cleveland Harbor

A federal judge has sided with the state of Ohio by ordering the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to continue fully dredging the Cleveland Harbor and Cuyahoga River, The Associated Press reported.

The judge said the Army Corps’ attempt to stop the dredging violated its duty.

The Ohio State filed in April a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their plan to place dredge material from Cleveland Harbor, which includes six miles of the Cuyahoga River, in Lake Erie or not dredge the entire navigation channel unless a non-federal partner pays to place it in confined disposal facilities.

USACE argued that federal law leaves dredging decisions up to the agency.

The Corps spokesman Bruce Sanders declined to comment the judge’s decision as the case is still ongoing.

According to the Ohio EPA’s Section 401 water quality certification, the Army Corps is allowed to dredge up to 225,000 cubic yards of material from six miles of the Cuyahoga River and deposit it in the designated confined disposal facilities, as it has done since the early 1970s.