Lake Erie Dredge Material: Finding a Solution for Ohio Ohio Brownfield Conference 2016 April 6-7, 2016

The Issue Over 1.5 million cubic yards of material is dredged from Lake Erie annually. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for managing the dredged material.

The Issue Over 1.5 million cubic yards of material is dredged from Lake Erie annually Currently, the majority of it is disposed into the open waters of Lake Erie. After July 1, 2020, disposal of dredge material in the lake will be prohibited.

The New Law Dredging plan. (A) Ohio must endeavor to work with the US ACE on a long-term dredging plan for the disposition of dredged material. (B) On and after July 1, 2020, no person shall deposit dredged material into Lake Erie or its tributaries unless it’s suitable for one of the following and authorization has been given: – (1) Confined disposal facilities; – (2) Beneficial use projects; – (3) Beach nourishment projects if at least eighty percent of the dredged material is sand; – (4) Placement in the littoral drift if at least sixty percent of the dredged material is sand; – (5) Habitat restoration projects; – (6) Projects involving amounts of dredged material that do not exceed ten thousand cubic yards.

The Need Lake Erie ports are critical to Ohio's economy. To keep the Lake Erie ports viable, Ohio needs to find ways to sustainably use dredge material and work on decreasing the amount of material needing to be dredged.

The Size of the Problem Only four of the ports have existing Confined Disposal Facilities (CDFs).

What’s Being Done Ohio’s Lake Erie Dredge Material Program Improve Lake Erie Water Quality by Addressing Potential Impacts from Dredge Material

GOAL: By July 2020, none of the material dredged from the eight Lake Erie federal navigation channels in Ohio is disposed in the open waters of the Lake. POLICY OBJECTIVE: Increase use of material dredged from the 8 Ohio Lake Erie federal navigation channels in Ohio so its use creates an economic value and there isn’t a need to dispose of it. GOAL: By July 2025, sedimentation in the Lake Erie watershed is minimized and the amount of material needing to be dredged from the federal navigation channels is reduced. POLICY OBJECTIVE: Reduce the amount of dredge material needing to be managed by keeping sediment on the land and collecting it before it enters the federal navigation channel. By taking action to address sedimentation, impacts from nutrients will be reduced also. Improve Lake Erie Water Quality by Addressing Potential Impacts from Dredged Material

What’s Being Done A strategy that includes coordinating with others on the beneficial use issue and supporting the work getting done at the local level. A strategy that includes coordinating with others on the sedimentation issue. Today’s presentation focuses on the beneficial use goal. The state and others are: – Providing $$ – Providing Program Support – Providing Technical and Regulatory Support

What’s Being Done Providing $$ to help implement upland and in- water beneficial use projects Ohio Healthy Lake Erie Fund – Cleveland Projects – Toledo Project The Lake Erie Protection Fund GLRI – Great Lakes Restoration Initiative US ACE – US Army Corps of Engineers Others

What’s Being Done Providing Program Support Promoting the need for and value of beneficially using dredge material Meeting with stakeholders to identify opportunities and challenges to using dredged material Participating in the Ohio Brownfield Conference 2016 Hosting a workshop Measuring progress

What’s Being Done Providing Technical and Regulatory Support Working to finalize a framework for beneficially using dredge material that is easy- to-understand and follow (June 2016) Characterizing the sediment/dredge material in the navigational channels and harbors to help identify determine potential beneficial uses (Summer/Fall 2016) Developing tools to make it easier to match sources of dredge material with potential uses.

Let’s Stop Letting Dredge Material Go to Waste... and start using dredged material to help Ohio! We can accomplish this together by finding ways to use dredged material. We have the power to: – improve Ohio’s economy and – improve our environment

Let’s Get Started Today! Let’s tap into one another’s energy and imagination as we find new and exciting ways to use dredge material. We will be: – identifying new opportunities for use; – identifying barriers to using dredged material at brownfield redevelopment projects; and – identifying potential solutions for removing or minimizing those barriers. Overview of the process we will use in today’s session.

The Size of the Problem Opportunity Four of the ports have existing Confined Disposal Facilities (CDFs). Two of the ports have material that has been characterized and is available for use.

What is Dredged Material? An abundant resource ready for use as: Topsoil/vegetative cover/growing medium and other custom soil blends Engineered fill General non-structural fill Controlled low strength material Gas line and electric utility line backfill Sanitary sewer line and storm sewer line backfill Parking lot base material Building backfill for commercial or land bank structures Sub base for basements of buildings Earthen mounds or noise barrier mounds Virgin aggregate replacement Low permeability liners ??? Soil, sand, silt, clay, rock and organic matter

Contact More Information Register for the May 11 th Digging Up Ideas Workshop