Posted on September 9, 2026
The United States Army Corps of Engineers announced dredging operations started Tuesday in the Conneaut harbor, and will finish by October.
According to a Wednesday release from the corps, the agency’s Buffalo District awarded a $4.1 million contract to Walsh Service Solutions in June.
Approximately 75,000 cubic yards of sediment will be mechanically dredged from the federal navigation channel in the harbor entrance and up-river to the Canadian National docks, and then placed for beneficial use.
According to the release, around 70,000 cubic yards of material was dredged in Conneaut in 2025.
Boaters should remain cautious near active dredging equipment and maintain a safe distance, the corps advised in the release.
The dredged material will be placed in the Conneaut Dredge Reclamation Facility.
Conneaut City Manager Nick Sanford said city administration was told originally funding was allocated to dredge 10,000 cubic yards this year.
He said city administration were concerned, because of the backlog of dredging between 2020 and 2023.
The four missed dredge cycles occurred during the COIVD-19 pandemic and the state banning the dumping of dredged material into the lake, Sanford said.
City leaders reached out to Congressman David Joyce and gave him a tour of the city harbor, Sanford said.
“Apparently, that must’ve had some sort of impact,” he said. “We were notified within about two weeks from the corps itself that funding had been restored for dredging activities to the tune of 75,000 cubic yards for fiscal [year] 2026, which we were shocked to hear and very, very pleased.”
It is imperative dredging activities continue so the city can stay in compliance with state law, Sanford said.
The city’s dredge facility is designed to take on a maximum of roughly 90,000 cubic yards of material per cycle, and take two cycles per year, Sanford said.
The 75,000 cubic yards is ideal to what city leaders wanted, Sanford said.
“This is on par for what we’ve been running,” he said.
The city’s dredge reclamation facility was built after the state banned the dumping of dredged material into deeper parts of the lake, Sanford said.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency had brought up concerns that the dumping of dredged material was stirring up nitrogen and phosphorus and feeding algal blooms, particularly in western Lake Erie, he said.
Conneaut dredged material is used by Canadian National for cap material for the former coal handing facilities on their property, he said.
“They have a demonstrated need, and we’re trying to minimize the traffic impact from the hauling of the materials on city streets,” Sanford said.
Dredged material was also employed for brownfield remediation at the former Astatic property, he said.
