Posted on January 26, 2016
Senators Want Corps to Pay to Dispose of Potentially Harmful Material from Cleveland Harbor
U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) urged Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jo-Ellen Darcy to use at least $2 million of its $273 million harbor and channel projects budget to make up for its irresponsible request for less money to dredge the Cleveland Harbor. The Corps requested $3.6 million less than the President’s budget, which will not be sufficient to complete the Port Authority’s dredge management plan for FY 2016. Brown and Portman’s letter urges the Corps to respect the State’s Water Quality Standards and pay for the cost of disposing of the toxic dredged material responsibly rather than dumping it into Lake Erie.
“The USACE has failed to provide sufficient funding to fully dredge the shipping channel of the Cuyahoga River,” said the Senators in the letter. “The FY2016 Omnibus bill reduced funding for the Cleveland Harbor dredging project to $5.94 million; this was $3.6 million below the President’s budget request. We are disappointed that the Corps’ request to reduce funding was done without consultation and coordination with the Ohio delegation, the State of Ohio, or the Port of Cleveland.”
Under language in the year-end appropriations bill passed in December 2015, the Corp cannot dump dredged material in Lake Erie without a State Water Quality certificate, which has not been issued.
January 22, 2016
The Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy
Assistant Secretary of the Army
Department of the Army, Civil Works
108 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310
Dear Assistant Secretary Darcy;
We demand that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) include $2 million in additional funds in its Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Work Plan for dredging at the Cleveland Harbor. The USACE has failed to provide sufficient funding to fully dredge the shipping channel of the Cuyahoga River. This failure to adequately fund dredging the Cleveland Harbor is contrary to the President’s FY2016 budget request. We therefore demand the USACE to include at least $2 million for this project from the unallocated $273 million included in the FY2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill for USACE’s operation and maintenance of Federal harbor and channel projects.
The FY2016 Omnibus bill reduced funding for the Cleveland Harbor dredging project to $5.94 million; this was $3.6 million below the President’s budget request. We are disappointed that the Corps’ request to reduce funding was done without consultation and coordination with the Ohio delegation, the State of Ohio, or the Port of Cleveland.
As you know, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has determined that the contaminant levels in the dredged sediment USACE seeks to dispose of in Lake Erie poses a threat to both the City of Cleveland’s drinking water supply and Lake Erie’s aquatic populations. We believe that absent a State Water Quality certification, the Corps is unable to place the dredged material in Lake Erie. Furthermore, the FY2016
