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Ashtabula River

Current Projects

In 2011, Ohio EPA began a large habitat restoration project using Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds. This federal, state and local effort will develop 1,500 feet of fish shelf in the lower two miles of the river. This will provide native fish species a shallow water habitat to forage and spawn. This project compliments an in-water and shoreline project to increase fish habitat completed in 2010 under the Great Lakes Legacy Act.

A strategic navigation dredging project is expected to begin late 2012. Over 100,000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed to improve navigation in the Ashtabula River and Harbor. Once completed, the restrictions on dredging are expected to be removed.

Background

The Ashtabula River lies in extreme northeast Ohio, flowing into Lake Erie's central basin at the city of Ashtabula. Its drainage basin covers an area of 137 square miles, with 8.9 square miles in western Pennsylvania. Major tributaries include Fields Brook, Hubbard Run and Ashtabula Creek. Iroquois inhabitants referred to the river as the Hash-tah-buh-lah or “river of many fish." The city of Ashtabula, with an estimated population of 21,633 (Ref: 1990 Census) is the only significant urban center in the watershed, the rest of the drainage basin being predominantly rural and agricultural. There is concentrated industrial development around Fields Brook and east of the river mouth.

From the 1940s through the late '70s, unregulated discharges and mismanagement of hazardous waste caused the river's sediments seriously contaminated and degraded its biological communities. Regular dredging is being prevented due to the contaminated sediments, seriously impeding both commercial and recreational navigation. Since 1983, fish consumption advisory has been posted for the Area of Concern (AOC). In 1988, the Ashtabula River RAP Advisory Council agreed to focus upon an AOC defined as the lower two miles of the Ashtabula River, Ashtabula Harbor and the adjacent Lake Erie nearshore. A variety of agencies and organizations contribute to the Ashtabula River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) including the Ashtabula River Partnership, Ohio Sea Grant, Ashtabula Soil and Water Conservation District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), angler groups, local businesses and industries, marinas, port industries, local governments, economic development offices, Kent State University and unaffiliated citizens.

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Beneficial Use Impairments

• Restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption
• Degradation of fish and wildlife populations
• Fish tumors or other deformities
• Degradation of benthos
• Restriction on dredging activities
• Loss of fish and wildlife habitat

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The lower two miles of the Ashtabula River was designated an Area of Concern due to severe pollution problems. From the 1940s through the late 1970s, unregulated discharges and mismanagement of hazardous waste caused Ashtabula River sediments to become seriously contaminated and degraded its biological communities and threatens the communities in the Outer Harbor and Lake Erie. Major pollutants of concern are mercury, chromium, lead, zinc, and numerous chlorinated organic compounds, particularly PCBs, PAHs and low level radionuclides.

For further information on Ashtabula River beneficial use impairments (BUI), see the RAP documents listed in the Significant RAP Milestones section below.

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Delisting Targets

In 2005, Ohio EPA completed a document offering guidance on developing Delisting Targets for Ohio Areas of Concern (PDF 1.7Mb 85 pages). The document presents targets and potential milestones based on existing Ohio EPA programs, rules, regulations, policy and guidance. Ohio RAP groups are encouraged to use this document to adopt targets and milestones specific to their Area of Concern. Delisting the Ashtabula River AOC may also involve other state and federal authorities including, but not limited to, CERCLA - Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA).

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RAP Development and Status

The Ashtabula River RAP process began in 1988 with the establishment of the Ashtabula River RAP Advisory Council. Years of unregulated discharge and mismanagement of hazardous wastes along the river and Fields Brook (a Superfund site) seriously contaminated sediments and degraded biological communities. The lower two miles of the river and outer harbor comprise the Area of Concern (AOC). The 1991 Stage 1 Report documented 6 of 14 beneficial uses impaired, all related to contaminated sediments. Both the commercial and recreational uses of the river were in danger of being shut down because there was no disposal site for contaminated sediments if they were dredged. An interim dredging project in 1993 removed several feet of relatively uncontaminated surface sediments to keep the recreational harbor open. An Ashtabula River Partnership (ARP) was created in 1994 as a comprehensive, structured, concentrated effort to get the river dredged, and as an alternative to the impending designation of the river as an extension of the Fields Brook superfund site. A coordinating committee was established as well as several technical committees, and a local coordinator was hired. A non-profit Ashtabula River Foundation was incorporated in 1997 to manage financing for the river cleanup. Since 1990, extensive sediment characterization studies have been done, including: mapping of pollutant concentrations (particularly PCBs); estimation of sediment volume to be removed; delineation of PAH distribution; TCLP testing to ensure sediments did not qualify as hazardous waste; screening for low level radioactive waste; modeling sediment transport, scouring and deposition rates, sediment dewatering, sediment additives. A creative mix of funding in excess of $2.5 million from local partners, U.S. EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. EPA-GLNPO and Ohio EPA provided seed funding for initial ARP formation, and allowed for preparation of a final Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (CMP/EIS), detailed engineering design of the disposal facility, and all the aforementioned studies. Extensive reviews of all agencies’ authorities were conducted to determine critical decision points and whose responsibility they would be. The River Partnership continues to meet monthly and is focused almost exclusively upon project implementation.

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Significant RAP Milestones

• 2005: A federal-state-local agreement  under the Great Lakes Legacy Act is announced that will fund and carry out a $50 million cleanup of contaminated sediment from the Ashtabula River.
• 2004: In anticipation of constraints on USACE funding, the Ashtabula City Port Authority  (local sponsor) submitted an application to U.S. EPA-GLNPO to fund the majority of the remedial plan (upstream of the 5th Street Bridge) under the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA).
• 2002: Published final Ashtabula River Comprehensive Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (CMP/EIS) after public comment period and public meetings.
  • Volume I (PDF 67.0MB 937 pages)
  • Volume II (PDF 55.9MB 1371 pages)
• 1997: Formation of nonprofit Ashtabula River Foundation to manage financing for the river cleanup.
• 1995: A local coordinator was hired by the Ashtabula River Partnership.
• 1994: Formation of the Ashtabula River Partnership.
• 1994: U.S. EPA agreed to keep CERCLA designation for the AOC in abeyance if progress is made and milestones achieved toward remediation of the contaminated sediments.
• 1991: Published Ashtabula River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Stage 1 Report (PDF 6460Kb 228 pages).
• 1988: Formation of Ashtabula River RAP Advisory Council.
• 1985: Ashtabula River is designated an Area of Concern.

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RAP Implementation

Recent progress and achievements

• 2005: Finalized 1) Project Cooperation Agreement (between all cooperating parties) under the Great Lakes Legacy Act, 2) Escrow Agreement (Ohio's $7 million and PRP nonfederal cost shares to be provided to local sponsor), and 3) Indemnification Agreement (between PRPs and local sponsor).
• 2005: Applications submitted for all necessary permits, licenses and certifications for dredging, dewatering, disposal and transportation activities.
• 2005: Prepared final engineering design plans for dredging, dewatering, and disposal.
• 2004: Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works approves the decision document for the Ashtabula River project to remove and confine approximately 700,000 cubic yards of sediment.*
• 2003: Remediation of the Fields Brook Superfund site, a tributary to the river and a major source of contamination.
• 2002: Purchase of 50-acre property for a proposed river sediment disposal facility on land formerly owned by RMI and adjacent to Fields Brook Superfund site disposal facility.
• 2001: A Pre-construction, Engineering and Design (PED) phase began.

  * Approval of the Ashtabula River CMP/EIS was extended by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (a significant prerequisite prior to USACE funding). The CMP/EIS contains the remedial action plan, engineering design, schedule, budget, and support documentation for environmental dredging of 700,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments. It is the first in the nation to be approved under Section 312 of the Water Resources Development Act that granted the Corps authority to conduct environmental dredging projects. Despite all these milestones, the list of USACE projects awaiting federal funding is lengthy, hence it is likely that many years will pass before the remedy is funded.

 

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RAP-Related Publications

• Ashtabula River RAP 2008 Annual Report (PDF 900Kb, 12 pages)
• 2005: Ashtabula River Environmental Dredging Project: Design Documentation Report.
• 2004: Dredging Limits Confirmatory Sediment Sampling Report (PDF 596Kb 10 page).

The following historical documents may also be available from one of the Ashtabula River AOC Contacts listed below.

• December 2000 Environmental Justice Assessment.
• December 2000 Cost-Sharing and Non-Federal Responsibilities and Appendices.
• Ashtabula River Project Cost Estimates and Benefit-Cost Analysis.
• Maxxim, Inc. Landfill Design Criteria for Dredged Ashtabula River Sediments.
• HTRW Evaluation of Potential Landfill and Transfer/Dewatering Site(s).
• December 2000 Geotechnical Engineering for Landfill and Transfer/Dewatering Site(s).
• Preliminary Final Radiological Risk Assessment for Ashtabula River.
• Preliminary Final Report November 2000 Ashtabula River Sediment Sampling and Analysis of Extent of Radionuclide Contamination.
• July 2000 Ashtabula River RAP Newsletter.
• February 2000 Ashtabula River Value Engineering Study Team Report.
• Ashtabula River Partnership, Part of the Solution, color brochure, May 1997.
• Three Ashtabula River RAP PSAs produced by the Ashtabula River RAP, March 1995.
• Three Ashtabula River RAP PSAs produced by the Ashtabula River RAP, March 1995.
• Ashtabula River, Be Part of the Solution, color brochure, June 1994.
• Ashtabula River RAP Fish Fry, interviews and regional television coverage, video produced by WSEE Channel 35, Erie, Pa., October 1993.
• Three Ashtabula River RAP Public Service Announcements (PSAs) produced by the Ashtabula River RAP, January 1993.
• Ashtabula County - A Community Working Together, video produced by RMI Titanium, August 1989.
• Ashtabula River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Newsletter, Ohio EPA, Division of Surface Water.

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