Black River moves closer to restoration, Ashtabula River to be removed as Area of Concern

CLEVELAND — Black River is one step closer to being restored and removed from a troublesome designation. At a news conference Wednesday morning, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler made several announcements regarding three Northeast Ohio rivers that feed into Lake Erie. Black River, Cuyahoga River and Ashtabula River have long been listed as a Great Lakes Area of Concern, along with other rivers across the Great Lakes. An AOC is a location that has experienced environmental degradation and where significant impairment of beneficial uses has occurred as a result of human activities at the local level. On Black River, all of its management actions to restore the river have been completed, which is one of the final steps to be taken before being delisted. The next step will be a monitoring period for Black River. Wheeler said he made a visit to the river Tuesday. The river that runs through Lorain County was once nicknamed by residents the "river of fish tumors." Wheeler said more than $24 million was spent over the last decade to change that nickname, and restore the river. In the monitoring period, data are collected to assess whether restoration targets have been met. Studies may span several years and involve collaboration between federal agencies, state agencies, Tribes and other partners. The Black River was first listed as an Area of Concern in 1987. Because the AOC delisting process can be lengthy, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was launched in 2010 to speed up the process. The process involves removing beneficial use impairments, or BUIs. There are 14 BUIs outlined by the International Joint Commission. BUIs are a change in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant environmental degradation. For example, some BUIs are loss of fish and wildlife habitat, undesirable algae, fish tumors or other deformities and restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption. The Ashtabula River is one step ahead of Black River. No river in Ohio has been delisted as an AOC yet, but Ashtabula is beginning the process. Wheeler said about $67 million has been spent there since the early 2000s to remove contaminated sediment and restore the river. The delisting process is now set to begin, and the Ashtabula River will no longer be an AOC next year. That process includes sign-off by the state of Ohio, U.S. EPA and Canada. It will join a list of five other delisted AOCs throughout the Great Lakes region. Three AOCs in Canada also have been delisted. The Cuyahoga River is just behind Black River in its progress, with its management actions being recently approved. Wheeler said the list provides the action steps necessary to get the river delisted. Some of the management actions already are underway, and the other will soon begin, Wheeler said. Wheeler said cleaning up the notorious river won't be cheap, but that it has been identified by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for possible restoration and delisting by 2024. Grant assistance provided by the federal EPA will go toward alleviating some of that cost. "I'm proud to say that we are within sight of the finish line in terms of returning Ohio's river to health again," he said. "So that they can become a place where people can swim, play, catch fish, eat the fish and enjoy what this great state has to offer." Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.